


Once Upon Another Time

by Rheaird_of_Life



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Modern AU, Washington D.C.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-03-31 05:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3966838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rheaird_of_Life/pseuds/Rheaird_of_Life
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lexa and company come across a mysterious arch that takes them to another time, one where everything is strange and confusing. AU in every sense of the meaning. Basically, Lexa of the future meets Clarke of the past, ie. today.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Arch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any time the Trikru are talking to each other it's in 'sleng.

The recent shaking of the earth had revealed a hidden bunker the Trikru had heretofore missed. According to the scout who informed Lexa of this, there was also something of great interest within. What, he couldn't say. Intrigued, she decided to investigate further with her closest allies, Anya and Gustus. For nearly two hours they travelled by horseback through dense forest to their destination. Gustus cautioned against descending right away but she disregarded his concerns.

"If Ravi deemed it safe, so do I."

Being her sworn protector, Gustus insisted on going ahead of her into the dark pit, and in this one respect, Lexa wavered. Ravi handed off his torch to the hulking warrior who dropped it down the shaft. It fell for what she estimated to be thirty feet before bouncing off something metallic and almost rolling into a smaller hole off to the side. Down the knotted rope they went.

Closed off from the elements for decades, if not hundreds of years, this vertical passage was relatively intact. The only real sign of time passing were the remnants of the massive spiderwebs clinging to the walls where Ravi had dislodged them during his initial foray. They hopped onto the metal floor and then lowered themselves into a cage of some sort. Thankfully the front had been pried open by Ravi previously. Ever since she was a child, small spaces had made her uneasy. She picked up the torch, walked through the opening and all at once the tightness in her chest vanished.

In the centre of this large, high domed room was the unknown object in question. Standing on a raised platform, was a semi-circular structure of about fifteen feet high and ten feet wide. From this distance it appeared to be constructed of metal similar to their own weapons. Surprisingly, there were no pieces of stone debris from the earth shake scattered around, and everything was perfectly intact, albeit dusty.

Wary of all forms of technology, they were hesitant to approach at first. The commander could not be seen as a coward, so with the torch held high she marched up to the arch determinedly, her heavy boots echoing loudly in the open space. She swiped her partially gloved hand across a dusty contraption off to the side of the arch. Once she did so, a faint hum began to emanate and permeate the space.

"Commander, do you think it wise to meddle with this?" said Gustus uneasily as she began running a hand along the sides of the riveted outer bar.

"We are here to investigate," she countered, not bothering to look at them or inform them of the fact that the metal was vibrating slightly, "so let us investigate."

"I agree with Gustus," said Anya. "I do not think you should touch that, Lexa. It is not natural."

"Your concern is noted," she said as she stepped directly in front of the opening and observed the hint of a shimmering something. Curiousity getting the better of her, she stuck the edge of the torch through it. Nothing bad happened so she stuck her hand through as well.

"Commander!" exclaimed Gustus from the other side. "Your hand! It has disappeared!"

"Do not be foolish, Gustus," replied Lexa, pulling her intact hand out.

He came over to her side to see for himself. Stupefied, "I swear to you, it was not there a moment ago." He stood before Lexa, blocking her path. "As your guard, I must insist we leave now. For your own safety."

"Stand aside," she ordered, standing tall and regal. "I am not finished examining it yet."

They faced off for a time but then he relented and did as she bade.

She knew she was being obstinate and foolish herself when she stepped through the arch just to lay their fears to rest.

"Lexa, don't!" warned Anya, attempting to grab her by the arm.

"You see, it is-" she began mid step, words immediately cut off when her head passed through the shimmering something and she found herself in another place. Or at least, it was the same place, but a different time. There was an overly bright artificial light source half blinding her from above and causing her to drop the torch. All around were the tables and technical apparatus that had previously been coated in large amounts of dust, now shiny and new. A lone, weak looking man sat at one of these, staring open mouthed at her, immobilized by the same terror she was currently experiencing. He was dressed in a strange garb, the like of which she had only seen on a dead Maunon.

She whirled around and stepped back through the arch, but nothing happened. She swiped her hand over the contraption she believed to have activated the arch. No shimmer was produced. Panicking, she jumped down from the platform and ran over to the dark haired man, retrieving her dagger as she neared. Before he could flee, she grabbed him by the collar and pressed the tip of the blade to his throat.

"What new devilry is this, mountain man? Why does it not work?"

The weakling made a strange sound, one she had only heard frightened children make before.

She drew a drop of blood. "Answer me or die."

"I- I- It's not finished yet," he squeaked out, eyes transfixed on her war paint facade. "Y-you can't be here."

_He is an imbecile._

"Clearly I am here, so it must work."

"W-well, maybe it does on _your_ side...but we're still in the t-testing stages here. It's not f-f-functional from this side."

Her stomach dropped at this pronouncement but she pushed this unease aside. "Take me to your commander. Perhaps they will know what is to be done."

As she said this, both Gustus and Anya tumbled through the arch, locked in a furious struggle, just about burning themselves on the torch. They were oblivious to their surroundings, and her.

"Enough!" she called to them.

Immediately her companions stilled and locked eyes with her from the floor of the platform.

"Lexa! You're alive!" cried Anya, struggling to her feet. All emotion was quenched in the next instant. "I am glad."

Gustus' eyes widened as he took in the view. "What is this place?"

"I do not know," she replied. "I believe it may be another mountain man stronghold."

"If you are right, then we must leave." Anya was by her side now. "Kill that weakling. Let us return with an army so that we may kill them all."

Lexa fixed them with a vaguely apologetic stare. "We cannot go back."

"What?!" Gustus jumped through the arch. "Oh my Gods! What is to be done?" He raised a hand to the bright glare of the light. "This infernal light blinds me so! Would that I could strike it down!"

"Shut up, Gustus," said Anya, with more contempt than usual. "The commanders guard does not behave like a wounded doe."

"This is why I told you to stay there," he said angrily approaching the trio. "Now there is no one to know what has happened to us!"

"You know I would never leave Lexa behind. To ask anything less of me was unfair. Ravi will return to Tondc and bring reinforcements. You worry for nothing."

If he were to do that, many more of her people would be trapped, possibly killed here. She cursed her curiousity.

Gustus scowled down at the cowering man. "He must have disabled the structure. I will make him fix it."

She raised a hand to him and then directed her attention back at the Maunon. "If I discover you were not truthful with me, I will not hesitate to end your life. Do you understand?"

The young man nodded dumbly, in a dazed manner. She released her hold on his collar and pushed him forward. "Now take me to your commander."

They moved towards two polished, metallic doors without handles. She understood them to be at the mouth of the vertical tunnel they had descended earlier. The man pressed an arrowhead that pointed upwards. It began to glow. The doors parted before them without any human aid. The Trikru were momentarily surprised by this and somewhat hesitant to enter the metal box.

They had no choice. There was no way out of this place other than the nonfunctional machine. So in they went, Lexa willing herself to remain calm. The man pressed another circle on the wall, this time it said G. The doors closed, her claustrophobia returning as the box ascended.

Before too long it came to a smooth halt. The scene now was that of five Maunon arranged in such a way as to block escape, weapons aimed at their chests. Moonlight was streaming in through the large clear apertures in the ceiling. If nothing else, they could flee this building and the Maunon could not follow. Instinctively, she grabbed the man by the shoulder and raised the edge of her dagger to his neck as she edged out of the difficult to breath in box.

"Bring me your commander, or he dies."

The men moved aside as a tall black man came into view. "I am in charge here," he said calmly as he placed his hands behind his back. This mountain man was clothed differently than the others, wearing a dark pair of pants and coat, white shirt and thin strip of blue fabric hanging down from his neck. "My name is Theo Jaha. Who are you?" He smiled slightly, his teeth exceedingly brilliant. "Or should I say _when_?"

Apparently this was amusing to one of the men with guns because they chuckled.

Lexa tilted her head towards her hostage. "He tells me that the machine does not work here. Is this true?"

Jaha looked to the man and said, "Are you okay, Monty?"

"Uh huh."

"Yes," he said firmly, fixing her with an intense stare. "We have not succeeded in activating the window yet. I'm afraid you're stuck here for the foreseeable future."

Another sound of amusement from the same man. If it came to it, she would kill him first.

"I do not wish to harm you, or your people, but I also can't allow you to leave this facility."

"This Mountain Man is humorous," muttered Anya, rolling her eyes. "He must think you a fool."

_I am though. I am the one who brought us here._

"I will not be caged," Lexa said dangerously, grip tightening on the handle. Monty trembled silently against her.

She became very aware of Anya and Gustus inching forward, their swords drawn.

"Please understand," he said placatingly, "it's a matter of national security."

"Let us fight them then, and be done with it," said Anya. "Kill as many as we can."

"Agreed," rumbled Gustus. "Defend the commander at all costs."

The thought of watching them die made her change her mind. They were the only family she knew. Losing them both would break the last thread of feeling in her heart. And though she claimed to abhor all form of sentiment, in the end, hope of a better life for her people was the only thing that kept her going.

"No one is dying," she snapped at them. "We will surrender."

"Commander-

"Lexa-"

"You said it yourself Anya. Others will come for us. They will save us in time."

_Or we will save ourselves._

"Sometimes we must concede a battle to win a war."

Her mentor gave her an unconvinced look. "Do not toss my own words back at me. Mountain Men are not to be trusted. The moment you lower your weapon, they will surely kill us all. I say kill the boy and take our chances."

Lexa focused her attention back on Jaha. "What assurance do we have that you will not harm us upon our surrender?"

"We just want to talk to you, nothing more." Jaha gestured with his hand and the men lowered their weapons. "Now if you would be so kind as to do the same, I'm sure we could-"

Two swords sailed passed on either side of her head and into two men's chests, piercing through whatever protective armour they were wearing in a way a dagger probably would not have. Anya and Gustus charged at the remaining three shooters as they raised their guns. Cursing them under her breath, she shoved the boy into a startled Jaha's path and hurled her dagger at a third man's hand as he took aim at Gustus' back. Shots were fired before the remaining Maunon could be disarmed. If they hit her companions, there was no indication as the men soon crumpled beneath punches and dagger slashes. While they were being dispatched, Lexa had run at the screaming man with the dagger embedded in his hand, knocked his legs out from under him and thrust her sword into his chest. As she retrieved her weapons from the dead man, she looked over to find Jaha and Monty fleeing the area, the former speaking into a small black device, calling for 'backup'.

Lexa debated chasing after them but then she glanced over at her friends and was dismayed to find that they had not remained completely unscathed. Gustus had been shot in the lower abdomen and shoulder. Anya was limping from a wound to the calf. Both were unsteady on their feet.

"We need to leave this place while there is still breath left in our bodies."

For once they did not disagree and they hurried over as fast as they could to the only door in sight at the far side of this level, Lexa supporting some of Anya's weight. Once more there was no handle or expected means to open it. However, in place of an arrowhead, there was a rectangular square with numbers on it. She hit a few of these at random, eliciting a beeping sound, and then kicked at the door to no effect.

"Allow me, commander," said Gustus, ramming his considerable body mass at the white metal door. It bent ever so slightly so he hit it again and again with his good shoulder. Before he could do too much damage he staggered and partially collapsed against the wall beside it, directly into the numbers.

"Gustus!" she cried in alarm and euphoria as the door slid out of view. Much to her disappointment, it did not lead outside but into a narrow corridor, many doors lining the walls. "On your feet, Gustus."

"I'm sorry, commander, but I cannot," he panted from his slouched position. "Leave me."

There was no way she could support their combined weight. There was no way she would willingly leave him either. More shots pierced the air and the wall beside them and with one last look of despair that quickly gave rise to determination, she continued on without him, abandoning the man who was like a father to her.

Anya's own strength was clearly fading as evidenced by the decreased amount of pressure against her waist and the increased amount of ragged breathing in her ear. Lexa pulled Anya as best she could along this deserted corridor, wondering if she should try one of these doors. The corridor ended and they came out into another hall, similar to the first room but different. There were also vertical wall apertures here that showed her they were nearly free. Only one more door remained. Once there, their pursuers took more shots. She felt the sting of a bullet grazing her arm. However, Anya fell, pulling Lexa with her.

"You're okay," she said, after scrambling to her feet and turning her over. Anya looked up at her and smiled as blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

"Go," she said softly, touching her face. "Save yourself."

Lexa wanted to argue, wanted to drag her by the arm, but knew there wasn't time. The Maunon were closing in fast, taking aim.

Teary eyed, she pushed through the door and into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so this came out darker than I was intending, but uh, I think it'll lighten up considerably pretty soon. So please bear with me as I set this story up. I have a funny feeling we'll be running into a certain someone next chap. :)


	2. The City

She was outside of the Maunon stronghold, but she was far from free. As well as the impossibility of the Maunon pursuing her out of the building without their usual protective layer, there was also a high fence of metal surrounding the enclosure, with what appeared to be sharp pieces on the top to dissuade any attempts at climbing. Not that she had enough time to attempt that before being shot down. More blinding lights pierced the darkness and followed her every move. There were Maunon behind and above her firing away, so she just kept on weaving and sprinting as she made her way to the fence, frantically trying to think of a way through. When she was almost there a desperate idea took shape. She had one chance at this so she hoped it worked.

Lexa readied her sword and slashed down on the metal with all of her might at the first opportunity. A number of the chains were thus weakened as her hurtling body slammed against it, and the fence gave way just enough to allow passage. Jagged edges tore into her body length coat and nearly ensnared her before she regained her feet and rushed into the forest cover all around. The Maunon were yelling incomprehensible, urgent things. No doubt they were not giving up the hunt. She needed to find someplace to rest and think. But where?

Before she could fathom her predicament to any great extent, the ground began to rumble. Anticipating another earth shake, Lexa made sure she was not below any fragile tree branches and took a firm stance. However, when lights shone on the dirt road off to her side, she ducked down into the foliage instead and watched in amazement as three metal, horseless carriages rode past.

Somewhat dazed by this occurrence, she lay there longer than she should have and heard clumsy movement through the underbrush. Lexa held her breath as her original pursuers stomped around her, flashing their artificial lights nearby. When they too had passed, she contemplated stealth tactics and slitting their throats from behind. One of them had potentially killed Anya. This could not be forgiven.

_Jus drein jus daun._

After dispatching of them, she felt marginally better about Anya and Gustus' fates. She took a quiet moment to revel in her agony, stupidity, to feel everything that she always denied herself, and then replaced her mindset with the commanders and continued on through the forest. Lexa moved away from the road and went deeper into the woods, towards Tondc, looking for some sort of sanctuary where she could plan her next attack.

If the rumbling machines hadn't been shock enough, coming to the end of the forest certainly was. In all her life, the only time the trees disappeared altogether was by the ocean, and she knew she was nowhere near there. A road separated this section of forest to the next. It was different than the last in that there were dotted white lines and solid yellow ones painted on. She knelt down and placed exposed fingertips to the hard, stone like surface, surprised that it retained a bit of heat.

Another horseless carriage rode passed leaving a trail of foul smelling air behind. Even her horse had never produced such disgusting scents. She shook her head at this and the destruction of her beloved forest and continued across the road on her quest for sanctuary.

Sometime later she was observing an unbelievable sight from the edge of the treeline on a crest. Down below was a city unlike any she had ever seen before, Polis included. Lighted buildings were everywhere, some rising higher than she would have thought possible - there was a large pointed tower on the opposite side of the city that particularly grabbed her attention. Hard roads separated some of them just as they had the forest. Even more of the machines glided effortlessly along their surfaces, and for some unknown reason, waited for red lights to turn green before moving again.

Perhaps the most startling thing of all: Maunon roamed freely. Her people had long puzzled over why they couldn't leave the mountain. Many said it was simple cowardice. But then why send scouts to spy on them? Why steal her people? As far as Lexa was concerned there was more to the story.

* * *

"You're not going to believe this, sir," said Jackson, as he bustled into Jaha's office.

Jaha had been in the middle of playing back the footage for the tenth time.

"What is it now?" he said, pausing the large wall screen on an image of the woman hurtling through their fence, their supposedly breakout proof fence.

"So, you asked us to run full diagnostics on them while they were in surgery and well," Jackson was practically bubbling now which was never a good thing, "they're radioactive!" he blurted out.

Jaha's eyes widened as he nearly crushed the remote in his hand. As if the situation wasn't bad enough. Now this. Maybe he had misheard?

"Repeat that for me, Jackson."

Jackson smiled and held up a Geiger counter. Jaha put aside the remote and rubbed his face with both hands.

"I couldn't believe how high their white blood cell counts were so I took it upon myself to investigate further. After eliminating every other cause, I thought to try this baby," he tapped the counter, "and lo and behold, I found the source!" Jackson got a dreamy look on his face. "Their immune systems are unlike anything I've ever seen before. They're absolutely beautiful and-"

"The radioactivity," barked Jaha, making Jackson jump. "Is it dangerous? Do we need to quarantine?"

"No." Jaha silently sighed in relief. "The levels are abnormally high but not harmful...so long as we don't eat them that is. That was a joke, sir."

Jaha just stared at him. Jackson cleared his throat, looking away.

"Anything else to report?"

"No, no, that was it, sir," he muttered before slinking out of the office.

Moments later, the light above the screen started to flash. Someone was trying to reach him. He pushed a button on the remote and Marcus Kane's larger than life face appeared.

"Update," said Jaha, hoping for good news even though his number two wasn't exactly smiling.

Marcus grimaced and said, "We found two more dead in the forest not far from the complex. Their throats were slashed."

That placed the body count at seven. While regrettable loses, these were not his primary concern.

"And? The woman? Have you apprehended her yet?"

"We have men scouring the forested areas still," Marcus answered after a brief hesitation. "But my money's on the city. We've tapped into the surveillance network. No sign yet."

Jaha placed his hands on his desk, leaning forward slightly, closing his eyes in consternation. He took a deep breath before saying, "She's dressed like a drunken pirate, Marcus. How hard could it be to find her at one in the morning?"

"Harder than you'd think, sir," said Marcus seriously. "It's convention season," he elaborated. "The geeks are out in droves." Jaha vaguely recalled his son saying something about that. "What else do you want us to do?"

Jaha audibly sighed. "We need to coordinate our efforts. Contact local law enforcement. Put a BOLO out. The usual thing. Armed and dangerous. Proceed with extreme caution. Make sure they understand this is a priority person of interest."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh and Marcus?"

"Yes?"

"I don't need to tell you what will happen to us if she gets anywhere near the white house."

Marcus gulped. "No, sir, you do not."

After disconnecting the call, Jaha mentally prepared himself for his next one. It was time to contact the Secretary of Defense and inform her of the situation. Already on thin ice, he had hoped to keep this development quiet and under control. Well, the cat was out of the bag now and if he didn't tell her soon, she would just find out anyway and give him even more hell for his operations massive screw-up.

"Call Madame Secretary."

* * *

Curiousity once more getting the better of her common sense, Lexa slid down the dirt hill and towards the twinkling lights and hordes of Maunon. She tried to rationalize this action by telling herself that it was necessary to find an ally in this strange world, for survival purposes; or at the very least, someone she could question at knife point about this place and the Maunon stronghold, to find its weaknesses and bring it down in a way she was never able to back in her land. For Gustus and Anya. She would have questioned one of the black clad men, but the blood lust and need for vengeance had clouded her judgement and they were choking on their blood before she realized her missed opportunity. Therefore, what she _should_ be doing is hiding up in a tree waiting for another to pass by. Instead, she headed into an entire city of enemies, hand on the hilt of her sword, ever ready to strike.

 _Curiousity killed the Heda_ , she thought with a slight smirk.

The first people she approached did not attack her, but they did look at her funnily. The same could be said of most of the people on this side road. It became immediately apparent why this and the colourful lighted poles were necessary as she had almost been hit by one of the wheeled machines while crossing the lined road. A terrible sound came from it, one that rivalled the terrible smell. In fact, this place was so much noisier and smellier than she was accustomed to that even if she hadn't been anticipating a sudden attack, she would not have been able to fully calm herself.

However, after passing by a number of people wearing far too little clothing - where was their armour? - and still no one had pointed a gun at her, she relaxed a little and began observing her surroundings in greater detail. Amidst masses of grey, there were many vibrant colours, mostly on the people, but also on the walls and signs. There were no tents in sight and the rectangular buildings were constructed of some sort of clay substance, not metal. Every building had those same clear apertures that allowed one to look inside, as well as out. She stood in front of one of these and observed her own ghostly reflection.

It was no wonder all these clean people kept staring at her strangely. Her hair was full of twigs and dishevelled, many braids having come undone; her face was sticky with Maunon blood, sweat had co-mingled with this and the war paint making the design unrecognizable and chaotic; her war medallion was missing, likely lost as she crashed through the fence; the arms and back of her coat were ripped to various degrees, blood from cuts staining the dark fabric; hardly the picture of a respectable commander. If anything, she was surprised these weaklings had not run away in fear at the very sight of her like that Monty boy had attempted to do.

Lexa continued her exploration of the city, moving slowly but steadily towards the large tower that had commanded her attention earlier. She thought if anyone knew how to destroy the stronghold, it would be the person who lived in there. Obviously they were the leader of this city and possessed knowledge no one else did. How else could they have built such a masterful structure?

While impatiently waiting for a lighted pole to turn red, she noticed a group of heavily armed, albeit scrawny warriors from another clan approaching her. She gripped tighter on the sword hilt, mentally playing every manoeuvre she would use before they attacked. Except they didn't. They simply stood beside her, enthusiastically chattering about nonsensical things, and waited along with her. This close, she realized their weapons weren't even real.

One of them glanced sideways at her and said, "Cool costume." He looked her up and down, staring too long at her breasts. "Love all the details. That blood looks so real. But, uh," he gave her a bit of a guilty look, "who are you supposed to be? Are you someone from Mad Max?"

Lexa thought of simply ignoring him but decided there was no harm in responding. "I am the commander."

"Hmm, the commander," he puzzled as they began to walk across the road, stealing glances of her breasts every few seconds. "That's not ringing any bells. Could you be a little more specific?"

Somewhat flabbergasted (and outraged) that he didn't know of her, she continued with, "I command the twelve clans of the Trikru."

"The Trikru? Never heard of them. Is it from some really old fantasy stuff?"

Okay, now she was wishing she hadn't opened her mouth at all. This pretend warrior was clearly not worth her time. Across the busy road now, she turned to leave, but froze in place as she caught sight of a massive green man hulking towards her. The mutant torso and muscles were larger than any warriors she had ever seen. It would be a formidable foe.

Without a word she unsheathed her sword and prepared to lunge and strike it down. But as soon as the notched and bloody blade was revealed, the annoying fake warrior exclaimed, "Holy shit! Is that thing real?!"

The other fake warriors came to crowd around her and she missed her opportunity to kill it. One of them even had the audacity to touch her arm and ask if he could see it. She did not relinquish her grip and simply glared at him until he backed off. This the rest of them soon did as well and she moved past them, sword still drawn, looking for the creature again.

Lexa was unable to locate it amongst all of the other colourful creatures around the corner here. Some had mutant appendages sticking out of their bodies or even heads. No one was paying any attention to her except to give her vaguely lecherous looks that her warriors would be tortured for.

It finally dawned on her that perhaps there was a festival of sorts going on. The Trikru themselves wore carved animal masks during celebrations.

More at ease, she sheathed her weapon and continued towards the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sorry, I really thought Clarke would make it into this chap. She'll definitely be in the next one. And I'm excited for their first meeting. :)
> 
> Also, the fake warriors were probably from Game of Thrones.


	3. The Meeting

Jaha had just finished debriefing the Secretary of Defense and was trying not to sweat under her scalding stare.

"So what you're telling me is that not only did one of these _radioactive_ people from the future escape custody, but we had to devote additional resources to healing the others, wasting man power and what little time we have to us before more of them potentially show up to do God knows what...all because you disregarded protocol and allowed lethal force? Is that what you're telling me?" Jaha nearly flinched. "We could have gotten some answers _hours_ ago."

He swallowed hard before responding, "With all due respect, Madame Secretary, we were never fully prepared for this scenario. Our analysts estimated the likelihood of an invasion at less than two percent. We were virtually dealing with the unknown. And they were threatening one of our own. I wasn't going to take any chances."

If possible, Abby glared at him harder. "And yet, seven of our men are dead despite the so called _precautions_ you thought necessary."

"Those were regrettable losses, I admit but-"

"Not regrettable, Theo. _Unacceptable_." Abby folded her hands. "Since it is clear to me that you are unfit to run this operation, I am dismissing you from your position, effective immediately."

Jaha couldn't lose his job, he just couldn't. Since Wells had grown up, it was his life. "Madame Secretary, please, I beg you to reconsider. I can make this right. We'll have the woman in custody any minute now and-"

"Enough," she warned with finality. She scrutinized him for a time, tapping her finger on her highly polished desk. "You can keep your job for the time being, Theo."

"Thank you, Abby."

"But I've indulged your little project for long enough, against my own better judgement. I should have shut it down after the _last_ incident." Jaha couldn't look her in the eye. "When the situation has been contained, it too will be finished. In the meantime, pull the plug. Before we have a full blown invasion on our hands."

"I don't know if that will even work, Madame Secretary. Theoretically, they shouldn't have been able to come here yet."

"Just do it."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Senior Officer Bellamy Blake and his rookie partner John Murphy slowly drove around downtown D.C., eyes peeled for any sign of the urgent BOLO. At least, Bellamy was paying close attention, his partner not so much. Murphy had a bad habit of not taking anything seriously and was currently discreetly texting someone, probably a recent hook up.

At the next red light, Bellamy prepared to give him hell for neglecting his duty when Murphy glanced out the window and said, "Hey, isn't that her?"

Bellamy looked over to a woman in a long tattered coat watching an attractive street performer dressed like Princess Leia in the golden bikini. Watching wasn't really the right word. The woman was mesmerized by the performers swaying hips and sensual movements and Bellamy couldn't really blame her. She was stunning, and he too was quickly becoming entranced and aroused.

Murphy cleared his throat and said, "Lights green."

Bellamy didn't need to glance sideways to see the smug smirk that would be gracing his partners face. Shaking it off, he gazed down at the screen capture on their mini computer. It was an obvious match.

_Damn, he's right. It's her._

He grumbled to himself and pulled to a stop on the other side of the road a safe distance away.

"We don't want to spook her," he told his amused partner. "The last thing we need is a hostage situation." Seeking revenge, "But if she starts running, _you're_ chasing after her."

Murphy scowled and rolled his eyes and then opened the door, Bellamy following soon after. They both unlatched the clasps on their holsters, retrieving their guns, and cautiously approached their person of interest. When they were closer, she turned around suddenly, with a bloody dagger and sword in hand. The question in her haunted eyes was clear as day. Are you sure you want to do this? they warned.

Adrenaline flowed strongly as he said, "Police. Drop your weapons."

The street performer, and couple of other admirers quickly took flight.

She seemed to contemplate his words for a time, dangerous eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them, and finally did as he said. The weapons clattered to the sidewalk.

"Good, now back away from them and put your hands on your head."

The frightening looking woman just stood there, challenging them.

Murphy took a step forward, gun trained on her chest. "I'd do as the man says," he said lazily, as if they were confronting an old lady and not a probable murderer. The bedraggled woman glanced at him impassively before moving back a few paces. It was hard to say who was more chill in this confrontation. Murphy jerked his gun hand. "More, back up more." She did so. "On the ground."

And that is where they hit their stalemate. The woman flat out refused to kneel, and just held her head high like she was some sort of royalty. Bellamy knew his easily bored colleague would take the kill shot soon if he didn't intervene. Their orders were to capture her alive if at all possible.

"Get out your taser," he ordered. "If she tries anything, take her down."

Murphy shrugged but did as he was told, swapping weapons. Then Bellamy holstered his gun and swiftly moved in to handcuff her, relying on his partner for cover.

That was a mistake.

As soon as he was within reach, she performed a series of crushing blows to his chest and abdomen, all the while making sure to stay out of the tasers line of sight. Bellamy wasn't a big guy but he wasn't exactly a pushover either. This hundred and twenty pound girl hit him harder than most of his sparring partners, knocking the wind out of him. He staggered back, doubled over as she attempted to flee.

"After her!" he wheezed even as Murphy rolled his eyes and fired. The girl fell without a sound and Murphy walked over and nonchalantly handcuffed her prone figure, before looking up at him and smirking.

Bellamy knew he would never live this down.

_Shit._

* * *

Clarke was going to kill her.

Twenty minutes ago she had been awoken by a drunken phone call from Octavia. Not only had her best friend been arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct, but her wonderfully sexy dream had been crushed in the process. And since Clarke was a workaholic, that dream was the closest she had gotten to romance in a long time.

So she practically stormed into the precinct to collect her inebriated friend, completely oblivious to the lone woman handcuffed to a chair in the main entrance hall. Octavia, who was dressed as Wonder Woman, spotted her and squealed, sloppily kissing and hugging her.

"You're the best Griffin, _the_ best," she slurred, and suddenly Clarke found it difficult to go into a tirade. Octavia took off her crappy golden tiara and placed it not too gently on her own head. Clarke sighed.

"Peeing in an alleyway, O? Really?" she muttered, exasperatedly. "Of all the things to get caught doing."

Octavia became defiant and swayed in front of her, hardly the picture of the strong character she was portraying. "Hey! Guys do it _all_ the time! And I mean, _all_ the time! So why can't I? Huh? Why do us women have to suffer?" She shook her head. "And I thought you were a feminist."

"What happened to Raven anyway?"

"Oh, she went off with some guy dressed like Snape..."

_I'm going to kill her too._

"...and then I really had to pee so..." she giggled, "here we are!"

Octavia leaned in and Clarke furled her nose at her friend's boozy breath. "Check out Hotty McHot stuff," she whispered, which is to say at a normal decibel.

Clarke glanced over to the train wreck of a woman, wondering what Octavia was going on about. Sure the cosplaying woman had amazing bone structure, but that didn't make up for the fact that she was clearly wild and disturbed. Her hair alone belonged in a horror movie.

"She's totally checking you out," said Octavia with a wink.

"She is _not_ checking me out," Clarke retorted as she took another look.

The deranged lunatic's beautiful green eyes pierced her own and she felt a not entirely unpleasant chill go through her frame.

"She totally is," continued Octavia, merrily. "She's looking at you like you're a beautiful cinnamon roll too precious for this world, too pure."

"Oh my god, Octavia," groaned Clarke, furrowing her brow. "Enough with that stupid tumblr thing! You've been saying that everyday for a month! A month!"

Octavia giggled and said, "You should totally _investigate_ her, Clarke."

"I'm not going to sleep with a total stranger, okay?" she hissed.

"Whoa, whoa, where's your mind?" Octavia said innocently. "I just meant for your next story. You've been looking for an interesting piece right? And she looks very _interesting_."

Clarke was about to tell her off again when a soft, alluring voice spoke her name. She didn't want to believe such a sweet tone could possibly have come from the madwoman, but there was no one else here except for the hairy desk Sergeant and he sure as hell didn't say anything. Clarke willed herself not to make eye contact again and just ignore the mysterious woman with the nice body and very kissable lips, and get out of there fast.

"Oh my god!" shouted Octavia in her face, grabbing her shoulders painfully. "How does she know your name?!"

"You're not exactly being quiet, O. Now-"

"Well whatever, she's talking to you now! Go over and say hello! Don't be rude!"

Clarke gave her drunken, idiotic friend a disbelieving stare. "She looks like a felon..."

"A mega hot one!"

"...and I am n-"

Octavia pushed her over before she could object further. The intense eye contact was forged anew and it was all she could do to blink and look away from the dazzling, haunted depths.

"Hi, there," she managed eventually, incredibly awkward feeling. "I'm sorry about my insane friend. She's completely wasted and-"

"Star girl," the woman said reverently. "I've found you at last."

_and, she's apparently not the only one._

"Oh my god! Did she just call you star girl?" choked Octavia just behind her. Then she nearly fell over in laughter, leaning into Clarke's back for support. "Damn, this is too much!"

Bellamy showed up then, looking extra pissed. He glared at everyone present and then said, "Okay, Clarke, get her out of here before I lock her up."

The maniacal laughter was quickly replaced by outrage. "Your own sister? Betrayal! I'll never forgive you Bell!"

Bellamy squared off with his sister. "Being able to legally drink also means you can get into legal trouble. You got lucky this time. I won't always be there to bail you out. Next time it'll go on your record and-"

"Blah blah blah...you used to be fun Bell, what happened?"

"I grew up," he said with a scowl. He gestured to her outfit. "Something I wish you'd do as well."

While the Blake siblings bickered, Clarke glanced over at the woman again. As far as Clarke could tell, she hadn't looked away for a second, eyes seeming to probe her very soul.

_Should I be flattered? Or terrified? Or both?_

The woman tried to move but the handcuffs prevented this. "Clarke," she said again, heavily accenting the k.

Without thinking Clarke took a few steps closer. She imagined that the woman would be quite attractive if it weren't for the smudged paint and what appeared to be dried blood on her face. Clarke really hoped it wasn't, because for some reason she didn't want this woman to be a bad person. Which was strange since bad people made for more compelling reads and her last articles had been complete duds.

"Why were you arrested?" she asked, dreading the answer.

Very seriously, "I believe the fates brought me here to meet you."

_Really? A pick up line in a police station while handcuffed? That's some Ferris Bueller shit right there._

This woman was something else.

Before she could respond, Bellamy was in her ear. "Get away from her, Clarke, she's dangerous." Clarke turned to face him, and noticed he was unconsciously rubbing his chest. He pointed to his half asleep swaying sister. "And take this one out of here before she passes out. I'm _not_ going to carry her to the car."

Clarke looked between the Blake siblings and the woman; the woman who was still staring at her intently, like she was the only thing in the whole world that mattered. And the fact that she wasn't exactly dolled up right now, having only thrown on a leather jacket over her p.j.'s with a serious case of bed head, was nearly making her weak in the knees.

 _Get a grip, Griffin. She's probably just stoned out of her mind. Maybe she_ _does_ _think I'm a cinnamon roll?_

She snorted at the thought and Bellamy gave her a weird look. The smile faded and she said, "We're going, we're going."

She took Octavia's arm and began to lead her out of the precinct.

There was a rattling of chains followed by, "Star girl! Star girl! Clarke!"

"Calm down!" said Bellamy sternly, "or you'll get another tasing."

Despite herself, she looked back at the woman, who was now rigid in her seat, straining against her restraints for all her worth, silently pleading for Clarke to stay.

"I'm sorry," Clarke apologized, as she led Octavia through the doors.

"I knew it," murmured Octavia sleepily into her collarbone.

"Knew what, O?"

"You're totally in love with her," she snickered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, if the project gets shut down, how will Lexa get home? :O
> 
> How ironic was it that 'slave' Leia got Lexa apprehended? And be honest, how many of you thought Leia was going to be Clarke? ;)
> 
> But most importantly, do you agree that Clarke is a precious cinnamon roll? :p
> 
> Oh and just in case you're wondering, 'star girl' is cuz wonder woman's tiara has a star on it.


	4. The Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunno if I like this chap or not but whatever, here ya go! :p

Shortly after Clarke left, the men in black came to collect her. As they transported her to one of the rumbling machines she now remembered were called automobiles, she attempted to escape. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful in this regard, her only reward two sharp blows to the head. Teetering on the brink of unconsciousness, they dragged her back into the stronghold and into a healers 'tent' of some sort. A hazy figure in white shined a light in her eyes and then stuck something sharp into her arm and extracted her blood. The person began attending to the myriad of cuts on her arms and torso. She didn't like being touched by the enemy so she struggled feebly against this until she could no longer fight the heaviness in her head and the bright lights lulled her into a deep sleep.

Slowly but surely the vision took shape, the same one she had experienced almost every night since becoming commander nearly a decade ago. A golden haired being with eyes as blue as the skies and a glowing beauty and strength unparalleled, guided her to the mountain and opened the door for her, just her, no army in sight. They would walk through the mountain together and find everyone already dead. Everyone except her people. The being would swipe 'her' hand and all the locks would fall off of the cages. Together they led her people to freedom. Lexa would often wake up with tears in her eyes. This time was no exception.

"Clarke," she breathed out softly as she came out of her stupor.

"She's coming around," said a fuzzy someone dressed in white. "Get Jaha."

Soon after the leader of these people - she hesitated to call them Maunon anymore - appeared in the very clean room, with the one called Kane, the person who had hit her in the head.

"How are you feeling?" Jaha asked.

Lexa just stared at him, eyes a bit unfocused as her skull throbbed unpleasantly.

The tall black man moved closer towards her, but still a safe distance away lest she try to break free.

"Your comrades are alive. We've healed them."

That got her full attention. She swallowed through the lump in her throat. "Why would you do this?"

Jaha smiled. "It's like I said before, all we want to do is talk."

"About what?"

"About what year you come from and how you gained access to this facility." He hesitated a moment before standing even taller. "And why you're radioactive."

She hadn't heard this word before, didn't know what it meant. But it didn't matter. She wasn't going to tell this man anything.

"I want to see them. My people."

"Of course," he said, before gesturing to his second. Kane handed Jaha a thin rectangular device with a glossy surface, like a tranquil lake with the sun shining upon it. She had seen similar instruments in people's hands along the side roads, and through the clear apertures in the building walls. Just like most of the things she had come into contact with so far, she didn't understand how it worked.

Jaha held the device up vertically so she could see and pressed the screen. On one side was Anya in an identical bed to her own, on the other side was Gustus. She could clearly see the rise and fall of their chests. Greatly relieved at their continued existence, the tears from before tried to assail her anew. She couldn't be perceived as weak amongst the likes of these men, so she didn't allow herself to feel.

"I want to speak with them."

"They suffered a great deal of trauma. They're resting."

"Trauma that you inflicted," she said, voice low, jaw clenching. She tensed against her restraints and Kane's hand went to his hip, where a gun resided.

"Only after you killed my men," the brown haired man said quietly, dangerously. "You're lucky I didn't put a bullet in your brain when-"

"That's enough Marcus," warned Jaha, with a severe glance in his direction, the kind she would give to her own people when they spoke out of turn. And by people she mostly meant Indra. "Leave us."

Marcus glowered at her before doing as ordered.

"So," he said, turning back to her, "will you tell me what I want to know?"

"No," she replied evenly, refusing to willingly aid the enemy.

Jaha's grip tightened on the device as air flared through his nostrils. He quickly calmed himself.

"We built the window to peer into the future, to prevent catastrophe's from happening. If you tell me what I want to know, we can prevent whatever caused your radioactivity. Don't you understand, I'm _not_ the enemy here. We're on the _same_ side."

His words did nothing to sway her and she just stared at the blank wall before her.

"I strongly urge you to reconsider your refusal to speak with me."

Jaha linked his hands, tapping his index fingers together. "I've been ordered to get answers any way I can. Based on everything I've seen so far, the strength your people possess...I believe beating you for information would be fruitless."

This was true. She would die before breaking.

"Therefore I'm going to employ a different tactic." Lexa looked back at him. He held up a little clear bottle, similar to the ones their healers used for storing medicine. "This is sodium pentathol." He seemed somewhat surprised she didn't react to the name at all. "Otherwise known as truth serum. Once I inject you with this, you'll be unable to refuse me answers."

She didn't respond.

"I've experienced this first hand. It's not pleasant. All of your senses will be skewed. You'll be disoriented, confused. You won't feel like yourself. I'll ask you one more time to reconsider your position."

Lexa said nothing.

Jaha sighed and picked up the needle on a metal tray beside her bed. He stuck it into the bottle and filled the syringe up half way.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this," he said as he pricked the skin of her right arm.

Within seconds Lexa started to feel its effects and Jaha was right, it was not pleasant. Still, she would fight it with everything she had and give him nothing. He stood back a bit while her world spun and just stood there, arms crossed.

"What is your name?"

Her inhibitions were fading fast and she felt the extreme need to answer him but didn't.

"What is your name?"

Sweat started to pool on her forehead, but still she fought it.

"What is your name?!"

"Lexa," she finally admitted. And really, what did it matter if he knew her name?

"Your whole name, what is your whole name?"

"Leksa kom Trikru," she muttered.

"Are you the leader of your group?"

"Sha."

Jaha frowned. "In English. Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"What are they called?"

"Trikru."

"Your group is named after you?"

Even if her mind hadn't been swirling and pounding at the same time, she wouldn't have understood the question. She lolled her head to the side.

"Are more of them coming?"

"I don't know."

"What year are you from?"

"I can't remember...records would be in Polis." She felt like crying. "Can't get there. Can't get there."

"What caused your radioactivity?"

She fluttered her eyes at him. "Chit? I do not know this word."

"Did something happen to the planet? Were bombs dropped? _When_ were they dropped?"

"Fires burned across the skies for ages...so our elders say...everything destroyed."

Jaha was silent for a time and then less intensely than before, "Is that why you've come here? To start over?"

"No," she said, shaking her head, the dizziness and thumping almost too much. She closed her eyes in an effort to steady herself.

"Then why? Why are you here?"

"Skai Prisa," she replied with a slight smirk, inordinately pleased with herself for giving him the first nonsensical thing that popped into her mind.

"In _English_."

"Sky Princess."

"What does that mean? Who, or what is that?"

Lexa fought the pull of the drug, and bit her tongue for good measure.

Jaha repositioned himself closer. "Answer the question. Who, or what is that?"

She bit harder, feeling the blood trickle down her throat. He grabbed her face and made her stare into his eyes. She spit blood into them. He pulled back, quickly wiping them clean with a small square cloth in his chest pocket. Then he reached for the syringe and gave her even more of the drug. She could barely think coherently any longer and was on the verge of vomiting.

"Sky Princess, who or what is that?"

"Clarke," she choked out finally, bile rising in her throat.

"Clarke who?"

The throbbing in her head had reached a crescendo. "Griffin."

Jaha's eyes widened as his mouth parted slightly. "How-" he licked his lips, "How do you know of her?"

"We met after the men in blue shot me with fire."

Jaha rubbed his face and muttered something incomprehensible. Then he mastered himself again, meeting her eye. "What do you want with Clarke Griffin?"

She didn't want to say anything about Clarke's purpose so she bit down on her tongue again instead, even though the pain was excruciating.

"What do you want with her?" he asked, grabbing her shoulders. She tried to spit blood at him again but only succeeded in drooling.

"Talk...just want to talk...like you," she murmured before throwing up and passing out.

* * *

"Absolutely not," said the Secretary of Defense, clearly disbelieving at the very idea. Her reaction was to be expected. Abby was very protective of her daughter, even more so after what happened to her husband, Jake.

"I understand your concern, Abby," said Jaha placatingly, "but your daughter will be perfectly safe. The woman is securely restrained and there will be men overseeing her every action, ready to intervene at a moments notice...on the off chance such a thing is necessary that is."

"She murdered three men, Theo, three highly trained operatives. She would only need a second to harm my daughter."

"I don't believe she would. I got the sense she liked Clarke. I've rarely seen someone fight so hard against the drugs effects to protect a single name. She nearly bit her tongue off."

"We have no idea what her agenda is."

Jaha smiled ruefully. "Which is _precisely_ the reason we need more answers."

Abby huffed to herself silently. "Just give her more of the truth serum."

"I can't. I already gave her too much as it is. It would kill her." He folded his hands in his lap. "I believe that she would speak to Clarke freely. We could get more useful data about the future." He looked her straight in the eye. "Your _daughter's_ future."

"The answers still no," she said after a time, though not as convincingly.

Before he had a chance to try to sway her further, she ended the face to face call.

* * *

Having slept poorly she was in no mood for her roommates antics.

"Holy crap, Clarke, you have to see this!" shouted Octavia as she dashed into the kitchen, still dressed as Wonder Woman, sans tiara. Clarke may or may not have burned it last night.

Clarke simply continued to pour herself some coffee, grumbling all the while. How was it that Octavia could drink like a fish and never get hangovers but if _she_ drank more than three beers she'd feel like she was dying the next day? Where was the justice in that?

After taking a cautious sip and not scalding her tongue, she looked up at her friend. She was practically vibrating.

_This should be good._

"What life changing animal video do you have for me today?" she said dryly.

Octavia rolled her eyes and moved over to Clarke's side, placing her phone on the counter before them. As predicted, a video was set to play.

"You aren't going to believe this," Octavia said merrily, like Christmas had come early.

Clarke prepared herself for whatever stupid video her friend had dug up this time by taking another sip of coffee. Octavia pressed the play button and Clarke nearly spit out her drink all over the screen.

The quality wasn't the best, but it was clearly showing two police officers having a standoff with a woman who looked oddly familiar.

"Dude, are you getting this?"

"You know it, bro."

The woman dropped her weapons, backed away from them, and then the taller police officer swooped in to handcuff. Except he never managed to as the woman performed some sort of martial arts on him – giddy exclamations from the videographers - and the officer doubled over, the handcuffs falling to the sidewalk. The woman was then tased by the other one and the video abruptly ended with more sounds of wonderment.

Clarke stared at the small screen with her mouth hanging open.

Octavia had been watching her reaction and she grabbed Clarke's arm and squealed, "It's amazeballs, right?"

Clarke turned to her wide eyed and said, "Where did you find this?"

"I didn't, Jasper sent it to me." Octavia grinned. "It's gone viral. Everyone's talking about it. You know what this means, right?" A sinister gleam came to her eye, which was somewhat surreal given her outfit. "I've now got blackmail material against Bellamy! Egotistical, asshole Bellamy! The next time he tries to tell me what to do, I'll just throw this in his face and threaten to expose his identity to all his cop friends...to the world, and he'll never bother me with unwanted advice again! I've already made a hard copy in case this gets taken down! I'm set for life!"

"I'm happy for you, O," said Clarke absentmindedly, her mind and heart racing about what she had just witnessed. She had only been a few feet away from the woman only a few hours ago. Now she really wished she had stuck around longer.

Reporter mode ignited and she set her coffee mug aside and went to get dressed.

"You're welcome!" came the call from the other room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for Clarke to go save her woman. :p


	5. The Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who is confused: Lexa comes from the same 'world' as the show. The only difference is that the Ark and its inhabitants don't exist there. They have only ever existed in the 'present' time. Ergo, Lexa and Clarke have never met before this story takes place.

Back at the precinct again, Clarke approached the desk sergeant, this time a not very attractive woman, and asked to gain admittance to the holding cells.

"It's Clarke, right?" the snaggle toothed woman said in a bored manner. "The reporter?"

"Yeah, that's right," she replied, glancing at her name tag. She had dealt with this woman before but could never seem to remember her name. _Stacy, Stacy, Stacy._

"I.D.?" Clarke had it ready to show her. Stacy nodded and handed out a pen. "Sign here."

Clarke logged in and then Stacy called a short balding man over to escort her to the cells in back. The officer, Frank Davis, held the door open for her and stayed a pace ahead. There were three relatively large cells here, mostly unoccupied. Clarke was not surprised when a drunken cat call was directed towards her. She ignored him, scanning the rest of the downtrodden quickly, but didn't see the woman she was looking for. She checked a couple more times, a frown growing, and then Frank said, "Something wrong, Clarke?"

She turned to face him. "The young woman who was here last night, where is she?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that. Just got here half an hour ago."

Clarke marched back to the desk sergeant. "That was fast," said Stacy as she twirled her pen.

"Can you check last night's admittance records, please?"

Stacy looked like she might refuse so Clarke flashed her a smile. The woman shrugged and began clicking on her mouse. "Okay, I've got them right here. What's the name?"

"I don't know," Clarke admitted reluctantly, cursing herself for not asking. Stacy did not seem impressed. "But I can describe her to you." The police woman just looked at her, waiting. "She was mid twenties, about my height, had long brown hair that was partially braided; green eyes..." _that could see into my soul and lovely sensual lips that I could kiss for days_.

"Clarke?" said the policewoman, waving her hand in front of her face.

Clarke blinked a few times and did her best not to look sheepish. She was a professional, dammit, she needed to act like one at all times.

"And she was cosplaying as some sort of warrior," she made a circular gesture around her face, "had face paint on and everything."

Stacy scrolled for a time and then glanced over at her. "There's no one here who matches that description."

"You're sure?"

Judging by her stony expression, Stacy was sure.

_Curiouser and curiouser._

Clarke thanked Stacy for her assistance and then proceeded to phone Bellamy, remembering after the fact that he wouldn't pick up since he always turned his cell off when he went to sleep. So Clarke made her way to his apartment and braced herself for the extremely grumpy person who would hopefully answer the door.

"All right already! I'm coming!" came the irritated, muffled voice after a dozen or so knocks.

The door whipped open to reveal a tousled haired, shirtless Bellamy, clothed only in his boxer shorts. Clarke did her best not to check him out. It was a bit difficult since they had dated once upon a time, only to realize they were better as friends. Predictably, their relationship had been different ever since the mutual breakup. He wasn't as easy going around her as he used to be. No doubt she was the same. If not for Octavia, and the nature of their sometimes overlapping jobs, they probably would never see each other at all.

"Clarke?" he said groggily, though not particularly surprised. Judging by his shifty eyes, Clarke got the distinct impression he wanted to close the door in her face, so she pushed passed him and into his messy one bedroom apartment.

"The woman from last night, why is there no record of her?"

"By all means, barge into my home and interrogate me without so much as a hello. It's not like I've only gotten two hours of sleep or anything," he added sarcastically, and then went to grab a batman shirt off a chair to make himself more presentable.

On a mission now, Clarke ignored this and said, "Well? You arrested her didn't you? So why didn't you fill out the paperwork?"

Bellamy avoided looking at her and proceeded to search for a pair of pants. Clarke averted her gaze when he bent over but couldn't help sneaking a peek or two. Say what you will about Bellamy Blake, but few could deny he had a nice ass.

Fully dressed now he plopped onto the couch and picked up a half empty beer, grimacing as the likely warm liquid went down his throat. Still, he kept sipping at it, pretending like she didn't exist.

Clarke stepped closer so that she was towering directly above him. " _Bellamy_."

"It was a false alarm, that's why," he eventually admitted, rubbing at his face vigorously. "She wasn't the right suspect. We had to cut her loose."

Clarke wasn't buying this story so easily. No matter what, there would have been some paperwork, some record. And he was acting stranger than usual when it was just the two of them. Maybe she was just too close? Good, she would use that to her advantage, try to keep him off guard.

"So you're telling me that you tasered an innocent white woman because of a case of mistaken identity and she _didn't_ press charges? Did I blink and end up in Canada?"

Bellamy scowled at that. "That was Murphy. And I'm damn thankful that's all it was." His head whipped up. "How do you know she was tasered?"

"You mentioned giving her another dose last night," she said smoothly, allowing Octavia to keep her blackmail material for later, when he least expected it.

"Oh yeah, you're right," he said after a beat, in a somewhat annoyed tone, like he was pissed she was making his bad lies so much more difficult to manage. He shrugged, "And uh, what can I say? She was a lot nicer than she looked. Didn't want to get us suspended."

_How touching._

"What did she supposedly do? The suspect you _didn't_ catch?"

"That's classified information. Need to know basis."

Clarke smirked humourlessly. "In other words, you don't know either."

He made a face at that but didn't deny it, taking a long drink to fill the silence.

Clarke decided to try a different tactic. "The woman, what was her name?"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked suspiciously, and she thought, a bit nervously.

She leaned in closer to him so that they were face to face. In her huskiest voice she said, "Well, I thought she was pretty hot. And now that I know she's not a felon, and so _flexible_ ," she bit her lip, "I thought I'd give her a call, ask her out."

Bellamy's jaw clamped down.

"You're seriously not going to tell me?" she said pushing herself to a full standing position.

_Are you jealous or do you not know her name either? Or both?_

Dismissively, "She's been through enough for one day, Clarke, leave the poor girl alone."

 _You mean, leave_ _you_ _alone?_

Clarke could tell he wasn't going to be of anymore use. "Well, this has been fun, Bell," she said moving swiftly towards the door. "Sorry for waking you." Once there she turned and said, "Sorry for the false _alarm_."

* * *

She knew it was probably pointless but she had to try anyway. So she located John Murphy's number via an online directory and gave him a call.

"The princess has graced me with her attention. I feel so honoured."

Clarke rolled her eyes at the stupid moniker as she walked down the busy street towards her car. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, and I realize we don't know each other that well, but I thought maybe you might be willing to help me."

There was a pause and then, "Will sexual favours be involved?" Clarke made a fist and was a second away from giving him hell, but she somehow managed to hold her tongue.

Still she couldn't help saying, "Don't be a dick."

She could hear the smirk on the other end. "Help her highness with what?"

"I'm trying to track down a missing person."

"That's not exactly my area of expertise, princess."

_Yeah, you're only good for being a smartass._

"Why are you coming to me with this anyway? Didn't you and the prince used to bang?" A slight silence while she seethed, and then, "Oh I get it, he turned you down, didn't he? I'm just your sloppy seconds."

Whatever patience she had with him was gone. "Look, you sardonic asshole, what did you two do to the woman you tasered last night?!"

"We're done here. I'm not losing my job over some psycho bitch with a Jack Sparrow fetish. If you know what's good for you, you'll drop this too."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, just a friendly piece of advice, _princess_."

While Clarke fumed beside her car, her phone vibrated, pulling her back to the present. There was a text from Octavia.

[9:28 a.m.] How's d story going?

As Clarke contemplated what to tell her, there was another text.

[9:31 a.m.] Hav U investigated her thoroughly yet? ;)

Clarke rolled her eyes. 'Would you give it a rest?'

[9:32 a.m.] I wiL 1ce U put DIS story 2 bed.

'You've got serious problems, O,' she texted back.

[9:34 a.m.] Luv U too, C.

* * *

There was one more thing she could try. Once more she went down to the police station, this time bearing gifts. One of the senior detectives had a weakness for fine cigars, something his husband didn't approve of. Clarke took Sam off to the side of the bullpen and discreetly revealed one in the sleeve of her jacket. He looked at it longingly.

"Is that a Montecristo?"

She smiled. "There's more where that came from."

The clean shaven man, with the chiseled face met her eye. "What do you want this time, Griffin?"

"Access to the precinct's security footage."

"I don't know, that's kind of-" She partially slid another cigar out from the other sleeve. He sighed. "Follow me."

In the control room now, Sam asked Clarke what she wanted to view, she told him, and Sam ordered the technician to pull up the footage from between two and three in the morning. Clarke focused her attention on the admittance desk area, and watched as Bellamy and Murphy dragged the woman in, securing her to the chair.

"Whoa, what's this about, Clarke?" said Sam, a bit uneasily. Without looking, she retrieved a cigar and held it out to him. He didn't ask any more questions, even when she too appeared on the screen.

"Fast forward through this part."

Octavia fell all over her in ridiculous speed, pushed her over to the woman, they briefly talked, and then she left with her friend.

"Okay, slow it down again."

They didn't have to wait long before a man in a black uniform came into the frame. There was no insignia or other identifying tag with which to go by. He spoke with Bellamy and Murphy briefly and then the woman was handed off to him. When he turned around to leave and his face was clearly in frame she said, "Freeze that."

It only took a second for her to recognize him.

_Marcus Kane._

Suddenly Clarke knew this thing was way bigger than she had anticipated.

The good news: her ex-boyfriend hadn't killed anyone and lamely tried to cover it up.

The bad: this almost certainly meant her mother was involved in the woman's disappearance.

"Friend of yours?" asked Sam when she had been silent for a time.

"Thanks for everything, Sam," she replied, handing him the other cigar.

He sniffed it and chuckled, "You'll be the death of me, Clarke Griffin."

* * *

Clarke hadn't talked to her mother in months and the few times the woman had tried to reach out to her over the years, Clarke had been fairly hostile. Her father had died in what she considered to be suspicious circumstances, and she had always suspected her mother of keeping the real truth from her. This perceived lack of closure had been the reason for her current profession, always trying to expose the villains in sheep clothing. She had considered becoming a cop or attaining some other position of authority, but that would have meant constant supervision and playing by the rules. Except for sexual situations, she didn't like having her hands tied. She liked being free to go where she wanted, when she wanted. And though she didn't _want_ to go to her mother's home that evening, she knew it was necessary.

Her mother lived in Crystal City, on the top floor of one of the tallest residential buildings. There was an insane amount of security here, only perhaps rivalled by her mother's place of business, The Pentagon, and Clarke knew it would be difficult for her to break into her mother's home so that she could snoop around. Therefore, she tried a direct approach.

"Hi," she said to the security guard beside the metal detector. She held up her I.D. "Clarke Griffin. I'm here to see my mom."

He took it out of her hands and studied it for a bit, eyes widening. "You're Madame Secretary's daughter?" She nodded and he just stared at her. "How come I've never seen you before?"

Clarke was afraid that telling the truth - that they were virtually estranged - could be perceived as a security threat so instead she lied and said, "I've been overseas for the past few years."

"Is she expecting you?"

"No. I kind of just decided to drop by."

"Visitors are supposed to call ahead," he informed her. "But seeing as this is your first time here, I'll let it pass."

He handed back her I.D. and told her to step through the metal detector. After removing her keys she did so and then he gave her the all clear to proceed. She rode the elevator to the thirty-six floor, the doors parted...and she came face to face with her mother.

_Of course she's waiting for me._

They stared at each other for awhile, all of the old anger returning in one fell swoop, and Clarke contemplated heading straight back down. Abby stopped the door from closing and said, "We need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Lexa and Clarke meet again next chap? Could be.


	6. The Water Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A mostly light, silly chapter for TGIF. Once again, they are speaking 'sleng to each other.

When Lexa came to an unknown length of time later, she found herself in a different room, clothed in a simple white shirt and pants. The idea that someone had touched her while she was unconscious was enraging. She would never have been treated like this by her own people, not even the Ice Nation would have dared...well, perhaps they were the exception.

Her consternation at losing every material thing she had brought with her from her world was short lived. As her skull pounded less and her eyes adjusted to the always too bright lights, she became cognisant of the fact that she was no longer restrained and both Anya and Gustus were nearby and likewise unbound.

She hopped up from her bed, swayed slightly and went to their sides, situating herself on the chair in between their two beds. She pressed firmly to both of their wrists, pleased to note the warmth and strong pulses flowing through. Then she called to them softly.

Gustus was the first to stir. He looked at her with eyes full of emotion and simply said, "Commander."

She wanted to hug him like she used to do as a child. Instead she just nodded and blinked back tears, thankful for his fast recovery.

Anya roused a moment later and glared at her. "Idiot girl. You were supposed to save yourself." Before Lexa could defend herself, Anya glanced at Lexa's attire and smirked. "Who is the father?"

"What?" said Lexa in extreme confusion and worry. Had Anya's brain function been impaired by the bullets?

"You are dressed like a pregnant woman," she responded, eyes laughing in amusement.

Lexa rolled her own eyes and said, "If I am pregnant than so are you..." Lexa's lips twitched, "so is Gustus."

Anya scowled when she realized Lexa was right. Gustus bristled at this revelation slightly but otherwise remained stoic.

"Commander, we must get you out of here," he said, struggling to sit upright. "It's not safe."

"Be still," she commanded. "You will do yourself further injury."

"We can't just lie around here all day, Lexa," said Anya, pushing herself up, ignoring Lexa's protests. "The enemy will surely strike us down at the next opportunity."

"I do not believe we are in imminent danger," she replied. "They could have just let you die hours ago."

"These Mountain Men are very strange," frowned Anya.

"Agreed," muttered Gustus.

"I don't think they _are_ Mountain Men." Both Anya and Gustus stared at her. "They are _like_ them, but also different. They can walk around freely outside of these walls. They do not wear their uniforms." She hesitated before adding, "And there is an entire city full of them where Tondc used to be."

"What sort of hell is this place?" said Anya incredulously, ripping out the small metal tube in her forearm, a tiny amount of blood leaking. She tossed back the thin sheet and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Gustus is right. We must get out of here."

Lexa knew there was no point arguing with her mentor, or ordering her to stay put, she rarely listened either way, which was precisely the reason they were in this predicament. So when Anya staggered on her feet, Lexa didn't bother offering assistance that would just be refused anyway. Anya limped towards the nearer of the doors, pushing it open with ease. Intrigued, Lexa stood and went to her side.

They stared at the sleek contraptions in this small, darkened room and then at each other.

Anya went in first, running her hand across the smooth looking material of the odd roundish chair that had a hole partially filled with water in the middle, and Lexa focused her attention on the higher up rectangular bowl.

"Have they made you a throne?"

Lexa gave the poorly constructed chair a dubious look. "I don't think so, Anya."

Then she turned the circular handle above the bowl and water started to pour from it like magic. Both of the women jumped back in surprise, Anya nearly falling over due to her calf injury.

"This water room* is unnatural," hissed Anya, hastily leaving.

Lexa turned off the water and tentatively sat on the chair, half expecting to fall through the hole. She was pleased when she didn't and began pondering the function of the water, or at least what she assumed to be water. Meanwhile, Anya had stalked over to the only other door. It appeared to be the same kind Gustus had tried to break through before succumbing to his injuries. Lexa watched in amusement as Anya pushed against it, her bare feet sliding backwards across the cold tiled floor as she strained with all her might. Even if she had been at full strength, Lexa doubted very much she would have managed to open it.

"Gustus, make yourself useful," Anya half growled, panting already.

Lexa exited the strange room and shook her head faintly.

"The commander does not wish it."

Anya yelled in frustration, hit the door once, winced and cursed, and then sunk to the floor. She looked over at Lexa (who was now back in the first, more comfortable chair) and glared some more, like it was her fault her hand now hurt.

"Now what do you suggest we do?" she huffed.

Lexa thought for a moment. "Someone will have to come in here sooner or later. We will overcome them then."

"I don't suppose your army is coming to free us, is it?" whined Anya.

Lexa blinked. In truth she hoped they didn't. No one else would be harmed because of her curiosity, not if she could help it.

"What's the point in having twelve clans under your command if you can't even use them?! Why do they have to be so useless?! If only I had my sword, I would strike them all down by myself!" She shifted. "Why is this damnable floor so cold?! Did they build it with the Ice Nation's help?!"

"Be quiet," she snapped, irritated by her mentors uncharacteristic complaining. Her hand must have hurt more than she thought. Either that or she was hungry. Come to think of it, so was she.

Anya grumbled to herself but thankfully shut up.

"Commander," said Gustus, drawing her attention away from her disgruntled companion. "You seem to know more about these people than we do. It might help our ability to escape if we understood them better."

Lexa nodded and said, "I will tell you everything I know."

* * *

Jaha sipped at his fifth cup of coffee, rubbing his tired eyes for the hundredth time as he entered the nearly empty control room. "Have you determined what language they are speaking yet?"

Sinclair, their on call linguist and overall genius, shook his head. "I've compared it to every known language in the database twice, and nothing's matched." He glanced away from his computer screen, pausing the audiovisual playback from the hidden camera in their guests room. "They're definitely conversing in a novel dialect."

"Do you think you can figure it out?"

Sinclair nodded and gave him a tiny smug smirk. "I've already started to compile the repeating sounds and words. Hopefully a pattern will continue to emerge and I'll be able to crack the code, so to speak."

"What do you have so far?" he asked as he hovered behind the curly haired man.

"Well," said Sinclair, tapping the first three words written down, "these ones have come up the most frequently."

"Ai, yu and oso," said Jaha.

"They mean 'I', 'you' and 'we' respectively. At least, I'm pretty sure they do." He shrugged and continued, "I might be mistaken but their unknown language seems to consist mostly of simple linguistic drift from American English. This would be expected if they are from a distant enough future. The real difficulty lies in unearthing their modified lexicon."

"For instance?"

Sinclair pointed to the underlined word, _Heda_. "This one's come up a few times and it's always directed to their leader. Since we know it's not her name, it must be an honorific of some sort."

Jaha straightened his back and briefly placed a hand on his colleague's shoulder. "Good work, Sinclair."

"Thank you, sir."

"Let me know when you have more to go on."

"Will do," he replied, letting the tape play again.

Something strange caught Jaha's eye and he glanced back at the screen. He watched in bewilderment as the two women entered the bathroom and proceeded to examine it thoroughly, as though they had never seen one before.

"Yeah, it's weird," said Sinclair. "They appear to be confused as to the function of a washroom."

_They wouldn't be the first_ , he thought dryly, thinking of some public restroom horrors he had come across. Having not slept all night, and subsisting on nothing more than coffee for ten hours straight, he nearly laughed, instead settling on biting his lip.

"This doesn't bode well for our future does it?" he managed after regaining control.

"No, sir, it does not." Sinclair paused the video again and gestured to them. "Given their clothing, tattoos, and rudimentary weapons, humanity seems to have reverted back to their tribal ways. When we combine this with their radioactivity, and general lack of knowledge, it seems more and more likely that MAD** finally came to pass."

"Now the only question is when," he said soberly.

_We really need Miss Griffin in here. I think somehow she's the key to everything._

* * *

The more Lexa filled them in on everything she had seen and observed about these people, the more they stared at her in disbelief. She could see the uncertainty behind their eyes, like they thought she had gone mad. So it was that Lexa did not think it a good idea to bring up Clarke. Both of them knew of her dreams or visions or whatever they were, but to tell her friends that they were now taking shape in the form of a girl, of one of these foreign, untrustworthy people, was something she would not do yet. Perhaps if they ever got out of here and located the girl, Lexa would broach the topic in full. Until then she would keep her mouth shut.

They had just finished discussing these people when there was a slight hum from somewhere on the ceiling. Her gaze landed on a square metal piece with slots in it. Suddenly her eyes began drooping closed. She lazily flicked her narrowing vision to her comrades and found them becoming equally drowsy.

"What magic is this?" muttered Gustus before falling asleep.

Anya curled up on the tiled floor. Lexa slumped in her chair soon after.

Upon awakening, she discovered there was a cart with food on it at the base of Gustus' bed. Her stomach rumbled at the sight and smell of the fruits and other things she was unfamiliar with. She investigated a bit more before touching. As soon as she did, Anya told her to drop it, claiming it must be full of poison. Lexa ignored her and tried to take a bite of the round orange thing, but Gustus asked that he be the taste tester.

"As I have already told both of you, if they wanted us dead, they would have killed us long ago."

Her teeth punctured through the fruits tough outer and unpleasant tasting layer and then her mouth was aswirl with a delicious juice, the like of which she had never tasted before. She was so hungry she nearly moaned in contentment.

She looked to Anya who was eyeing the food much more lovingly than she had eyed Lexa when they were reunited and said, "Come, partake of this food with me. I know you are hungry."

Even as her mentor's stomach growled loudly to confirm this, Anya sat on the floor and didn't move, her body language tense and rigid.

Lexa picked up a handful of berries that were blue and brought them to Gustus. "Eat," she commanded.

Her sworn guard clearly debated disregarding a direct order but then acquiesced, tentatively at first and then more vociferous as his digestive system kicked in. Lexa continued to eat the orange fruit and hid her laugh when Anya crept over to the cart, sniffed the food and grabbed handfuls of it. Then she slunk over to her place on the floor and began to devour it in a very disgusting sounding way,*** in a way that had gotten Lexa herself slapped across the face as a child numerous times after a long days training.

'You are not an animal', Anya had told her each time. 'Do not act like one.'

Lexa decided not to throw those words back at her and instead just revel in the simple delight brought on by a comfortably filling stomach.

When they were all satiated, another of their biological functions awakened and Lexa began wondering what they were meant to do about it. There was a bin of some sort in the corner, but it had bits of garbage in it and didn't seem to be what was used to relieve oneself.

Then Anya said, "Look at this," pointing to a piece of paper on the door leading to the water room, that now had a light emanating from within.

Lexa tore the paper from the door and read aloud, "This room is for relieving yourself. Use the chair and pull the lever after you are done. Wash your hands in the bowl beside it."

Lexa shared a look with Anya and then they both tried to push through the door frame first. Not wanting to hurt her injured friend further, she quickly gave up the struggle and let her pass.

_I am the commander_ , she pouted, as her full bladder throbbed. _I should have the right to relieve myself first._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most awkward way to end a chapter ever? But at least there was no cliffhanger...well not exactly. :p
> 
> I won't say I'm sorry for the literal toilet humour because I'm not.
> 
> *Fun fact: bathrooms used to be called water closets, designated W.C. Thank you Murdoch Mysteries.
> 
> **Mutually Assured Destruction. Something that's been feared since the 60s. In the 100 universe, it happened in 2052. I don't know if I'm sticking to that date or not for this story.
> 
> ***Anyone else picturing Gollum here? Or is it just me? xD
> 
> Yay, so they're finally going to interact in the next chapter, and I mean for more than like 2 sentences. It'll be at LEAST 3.


	7. The Deal

Her mother gestured to the selection of no doubt top quality alcohol in fine crystal decanters. "Before we get started, would you like something to drink?"

While alcohol would certainly take the edge off of her trying day and this unwanted reunion, she flat out refused to accept anything from the woman who wouldn't tell her what really happened to her father. Saying there was an accident at work didn't cut it for Clarke and never would.

Clarke crossed her arms in response and her mother sighed and poured herself a healthy serving of what might have been bourbon, her favourite. Abby took a seat in the high backed leather recliner and once more gestured for Clarke to join her. Once more Clarke refused.

"I'm good right here."

Abby took a large swallow and then put the tumbler aside. Her mother stared at her some more and Clarke assumed the woman thought the gaze was compassionate or winsome. All Clarke saw was the woman who betrayed her.

"It's been a long time," her mother began. "How have you-"

" _Don't_ ," Clarke warned with a glare. "Don't pretend that you care about my well being."

"But I _do_ care, Clarke," insisted her mother. "I always have." She tested out a smile. "I have to, I'm your mother."

"Is that why you still have your goons spy on me?" Abby opened her mouth but Clarke cut her off. "Even after I told you to leave me alone?"

"I just want you to be safe," defended Abby. "You're reckless with your job, making powerful enemies at every turn-"

" _You_ included?" she interrupted, giving the low blow in stride, in grim satisfaction.

"That's not fair, Clarke," frowned Abby. "You know I would never hurt you."

"Too late," Clarke muttered, hugging herself tighter and avoiding her gaze. The uncomfortable silence stretched on. She hardened herself again and continued with, "Let's just get down to business."

"As you wish." Her mother took another drink and then told her to sign the confidentiality forms on the coffee table in front of her. Clarke had begged to do the same when her father died, but her mother refused to let her know the truth. Her throat constricted at the memory of the worst time of her life. She steadied her hand with difficulty before signing the papers and then retained her former closed off posture.

Abby nodded that she was satisfied and folded her hands in her lap. She levelled Clarke with a look only Madame Secretary could pull off; self assured, cold, commanding. How Clarke hated that look.

Whatever Clarke thought would come out of her mother's mouth next, it wasn't the following: "One of our military operations is housing three invaders from the future. And their leader wants to speak with you."

* * *

General Jaha met them at the entrance to the fenced in complex. The strict man had been a great friend of her dads, which in turn had made his son a great friend of hers. Part of her believed the General to somehow be responsible for her father's death, and because of this, Clarke hadn't seen him in nearly three years. Her distrust of Jaha had led to a rift with Wells and they barely interacted either, except to send and receive birthday cards.

He looked much as he always had, though more tired behind the eyes and more coated in facial hair than was his wont. He removed a hand from behind his ramrod straight back and held it out to her.

She deigned to receive it. He dropped it awkwardly and said, "I see nothing has changed."

"I'm only here to see Lexa."

Jaha and her mother shared a look and then he said, "Of course. This way, Clarke."

He led them through the overly air conditioned building, down a long blank corridor until they entered a room full of computers and wall monitors. She supposed this was the control room. Her gaze immediately fell on the largest screen that showed a clean faced Lexa in white attire. Without the blood and makeup, her cheekbones were even more prominent and sculpting. Lexa's hair was no longer a horror show but now she looked almost like a child, like a bruised and beaten child. If Clarke didn't know any better, she wouldn't have believed this to be the same person she had met in the precinct. But the eyes gave it away, the piercing, haunted eyes.

She turned to face the pair of them. "What is this? You know I hate doing interviews like this. I can't read people properly. I want to speak to her in the same room."

"She's dangerous, Clarke," said her mother. "I can't allow that."

Clarke bristled at that. "You can, and you will, or we're done here."

Jaha and Abby shared another look. "We can post two men inside with them and-"

"No, no one else is going to be in there with us. It'll be too distracting. You watching us from here will be bad enough."

"Clarke, be reasonable," pleaded her mother.

"Those are my terms, Madame _Secretary_ ," Clarke said obstinately, crossing her arms, "take them or leave them."

Abby sighed and said, "Fine." She looked to the armed soldier that had accompanied them. "Please escort my daughter to our guest."

Clarke did her best not to snort at that. _Guest my ass_.

"Yes, ma'am," he said before turning and marching out the door, Clarke keeping a few paces back.

It wasn't long until they reached their destination. Now that she as actually here, all of Clarke's bravado evaporated on the spot, her heart hammering almost painfully. She had been debriefed on this woman who had allegedly killed three gun toting soldiers with nothing more than a sword in a matter of minutes. Even if she was a bit scared, she couldn't let it show or turn back now, so she took a deep breath and nodded to the soldier, who swiped his key card and let her in. As soon as the door slid sideways, their eyes met, Lexa's widening at the sight of her. Just like in the precinct she strained against her handcuffs, this time attached to the table before her.

"Clarke? What are you doing here? It's not safe. You must leave while you still have the chance-"

"Whoa, calm down, Lexa." As soon as she said her name, the woman's eyes got even wider, like she was surprised that Clarke would know it. Clarke was confused. "Didn't you ask to speak with me?"

The woman's silence and rigid posture was answer enough.

_What the hell, mom?_

"Well, I'm here now, so we might as well talk."

She boldly strode into the small, hardly furnished room and took the seat opposite her, Lexa's eyes following her every move. Lexa didn't exactly relax but her demeanour softened slightly as they just stared at one another. Clarke had been in the same room as killers before, but this time felt different. Lexa's eyes were haunted like they had seen great evil, but they also had a goodness buried there, a pureness that was hard to find in people these days. They were also incredibly hypnotic, so Clarke glanced away before her brain turned to Swiss cheese.

_Smooth move coming in here, Griffin._

Feeling intensely awkward again, she said the first thing that came to mind. "So, you're from the future, huh?"

Lexa just stared into her soul some more. Clarke felt stupid and flushed slightly. She cleared her throat and got a hold of herself, remembering that her mother and Jaha were currently scrutinizing her.

"So first of all, let me express my condolences at being held captive like a lab rat. Believe me, I know how you feel. My mother doesn't have the best people skills, which is ironic since it's her job to protect all of them."

This elicited a somewhat bewildered response. "Your _mother_ is the leader of your people?"

"No," Clarke said with a snort, "but she likes to think so." She shifted, placing her hands on the table, only a few inches away from Lexa's. The woman's eyes snapped to them, like she wished she could reach out and touch her. Clarke ignored this and the slight tingling sensation at the thought and said, "Anyway, I've been authorized to make you a deal. If you cooperate fully with them, you can go," she did air quotes, "free. You'll be under constant supervision still but they'll set you up with your own place."

"What of my comrades?"

"They're not part of the deal. The people holding you here need assurances that you'll behave yourself and not attack any more police officers...or kill anyone else."

Lexa observed her mutely, seemingly confused with why Clarke had hesitated with mentioning that last part, and why it made her so uncomfortable.

_What kind of place does she come from?_

"Then I can't accept this offer," Lexa said with finality. "I _won't_ leave my people behind."

Clarke looked over to the upper corner where the nearly invisible camera was and smirked. "See, Mom, I knew she wouldn't go for it. There's this thing called _loyalty_."

Lexa looked where she was looking and frowned. "Why did you speak to the ceiling?"

_Right. Her world is probably apocalyptic._

Clarke glanced back at her and pointed towards the camera. "If you look really closely, you'll see a glare from a tiny lens there. My mother can see and hear us through it."

Lexa looked where she had pointed and squinted against the bright lights. She looked back to Clarke suddenly. "Would this technology be present in other rooms?"

"Most likely," Clarke said. Lexa's jaw clamped down and her fists clenched. "Like I said, sorry that you've been made into a lab rat."

"What is a 'lab'?" Lexa said after a bit, cocking her head to the side like a dog would.

"A place where experiments are conducted." Lexa gave her a blank look. "Uh, things are discovered there." The attractive woman raised an eyebrow. "Never mind, Lexa, it's not important." She paused a beat. "What _is_ important is telling us more about what caused the nuclear fallout."

"I do not know these words."

Clarke absentmindedly rubbed at her mouth with her index finger as she contemplated how best to explain this concept as if she were talking to a six year old. Eventually she realized Lexa's full lips had parted in a sexy pouty way and the woman was intently watching her finger as it moved teasingly against her lips. Immediately she stopped its progress and placed her hands in her lap. It was several more seconds before Lexa's hooded eyes flickered up to her own. The woman's pupils were clearly dilated, like a lot. Normally this was precisely why she'd want to be in the same room as the interviewee, for this sign of falsehood. In this case, she wished she was anywhere but, as Clarke could swear that the air suddenly got ten degrees warmer and she could feel the blush coming on again.

"Yeah, so, uh," she fumbled awkwardly for what she wanted to say next. "Nuclear fallout is...it's really bad..."

_Oh God, why are her lips still parted like that? How's a girl supposed to think straight?_

"...like so bad. And uh..."

_Well, duh, they aren't. Cuz you're not straight, Griffin...you're so very gay right now. Gay overload. Gay's R Us._

"Gaylord Griffin."

Lexa blinked at that, said, "What is a 'gaylord'?" and Clarke turned beet red, beyond embarrassed she had spoken her thought aloud. Clarke violently cleared her throat and said, "Also not important. You know, Lexa, I think this would be a lot easier to explain with visual aids." She stood up hastily and began backing towards the door. "So, I'm just gonna go grab some real quick and then we can continue this. Well, not _this_ ," she gestured wildly between them. "Not that there is a this. I mean-"

_Shut up! Shut the fuck up and leave!_

Clarke practically tripped over herself as she exited the room. The soldier looked to her frazzled countenance and stiffened to attention. "Is everything okay, Miss Griffin?"

"Yup, everything's hunky dory."

_What the fuck? Who even says that?_

She turned on her heel and headed toward the exit. Maybe she could get out and fly to the North Pole before-

"Clarke?" called her mother from behind. "Where are you going?"

She closed her eyes and tried to quiet her heart. When she opened them again, her mother was standing in front of her, looking at her in a concerned manner. Clarke was so out of it that she didn't even shrug away from her mother's touch.

With her hands on her shoulders, she said, "What _was_ that back there?"

Clarke glanced away, so not wanting to have this conversation with her.

"Do you like that sociopath?"

Now she pulled away. "She's not a sociopath, Mom."

"Honey, she killed three people and shows no remorse for it."

"Like you've never killed anyone," Clarke said with a scoff.

Abby frowned. "I haven't."

"No, of course not," she said sarcastically. "You only oversee the entire countries defence network. I'm sure no one's ever died as a direct result of your orders. I'm sure you had absolutely nothing to do with Dad's death and it's just a coincidence that you refuse to tell me the truth."

"That's quite enough young lady," warned Abby, looking almost as fierce as her daughter now.

"Why? Because you don't like hearing how you _murdered_ the supposed love of your life?"

The slap came swift and forcefully and Clarke revelled in the brutal sting of it, of melting the Ice Queen, if only for a moment. Her mother looked horrified as soon as it happened and tried to apologize, but Clarke just left the building, heedless to her plea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In every time, in every world, The Griffin's have a shit relationship...at first.
> 
> Anyway, Griffin's got game, right? Who doesn't get turned on by talk of Nuclear Fallout?


	8. The Offer

In an attempt to calm down, Clarke stormed around the military complex, a couple of soldiers directing their gaze her way. She was oblivious to them, oblivious to everything except for her rage. So it was that she kicked the fence, her new blue pumps nearly getting impaled on jagged pieces. It looked like a fearsome animal with razor sharp claws had slashed its way out. Knowing her mother - and her somewhat unusual ideas about what constituted defence, hence the time portal - she wouldn't be surprised if there were giant mutant gorillas on the loose.

As she inspected the fence further though, she realized that many of the chains were surgically sliced, in a way that seemed more of the man made variety. Instantly an image of a blurry sword came into focus, and Clarke knew that Lexa had done this in her initial bid for freedom. The idea both terrified, thrilled and angered her.

_Nice warm welcome._

Clarke knew she would need to go back in there sooner rather than later, but the thought of braving the same space as Lexa again had her stalling for time, and she made another couple of circuits around the complex, thinking all the while. This whole debriefing thing had been a whirlwind of emotions, chaotic and confusing. Clarke had heard a number of wild stories in her first year as a fully fledged reporter, but this one had blown the others out of the water. So much so that she had thought her mother mad, or playing some kind of bizarre practical joke. It took a lot of convincing otherwise that the reports were real and not doctored for her mothers sick amusement.

While logically Clarke understood the importance of learning the date of the end of the world, she also had her reservations about it. She hadn't seen a ton of sci-fi in her day, but what she had seen twisted her gut painfully. If she managed to discover the date from Lexa, and they also managed to prevent that first nuke drop, the future would be irrevocably altered. And if that happened, what did that mean for Lexa and her people? Would they ever be born? Or would they cease to exist? Did she have the right to meddle? Did anyone? And did it even matter if they did? Even if they prevented _this_ apocalypse from occurring - if indeed that was what this was all really about anyway - who's to say _another_ wouldn't soon follow? As long as the nukes existed, someone would eventually use them. The only surefire solution was to gather them all up and launch them into the sun or something, and then never make any more. But that was never going to happen. So one way or another they were all screwed.

Depressing thoughts aside, she figured she had to at least _try_ to get the date from Lexa, anything less and the guilt of allowing millions, maybe even billions of people to perish would overwhelm and destroy her as surely as the bombs themselves. She couldn't help but feel a little resentful of the oddly captivating woman of few words.

Why was it that Lexa was so fixated on her? Why did she have to bear this burden alone?

With a sigh, she finished her most recent revolution and then went back into the building. She was prepared to go find an illuminating collection of photos from _Google_ images, but the task had already been completed in her absence. Sinclair handed her a tablet uploaded with seemingly every conceivable image that might even remotely relate to her upcoming discussion.

"If you want, Clarke, I could teach you a little of their language too. Might help to explain things better and smooth things over after..."

_After I made a fool of myself._

"Their language?"

"Yeah, it's pretty simple actually..."

_Says the genius._ This guy was almost as bad as Raven.

"...It's just a skewed version of English. Slang basically. Their group is called Trikru, so I'm christening it Trislang."

Clarke shrugged. "Okay. Teach me Trislang."

"Great!" said Sinclair, barely restraining his excitement as he rubbed his hands together. "Let's get started!"

* * *

Half an hour and a number of basic Trislang words and phrases later, Clarke reentered the room where Lexa was being held. Their eyes met again as she ambled over to the woman, doing her best to remain unaffected, and placed the tablet on the table before them.

"Clarke."

"Lexa," she said with a nod as she reclaimed her seat. "Sorry about earlier. _Please forgive me_ ," she added in Trislang.

Lexa's eyes widened in shock and Clarke immediately assumed she had said it wrong, or that Sinclair had translated wrong, and that she had just said something really inappropriate. The blush threatened to break free once more but then Lexa spoke and she knew she had simply jumped the gun.

"How do you know our language?"

"Well, the resident linguistic expert kind of worked it out. But I only know a little.

Lexa glanced away, seemingly lost in thought. Clarke called her back to reality. "Earth to Lexa." She caught her eye. "If you'd rather I don't speak any more of it-"

"Sha," said Lexa slightly hastily. "Chich* op em. And you are forgiven. Though I do not know what for."

Clarke stifled a faint smile and said, "Mochof, Heda." She picked up the tablet, found what she was looking for and turned it back around so that Lexa could see. The woman didn't seem surprised by the device which suggested she had been introduced to it earlier. "So this is what I was trying to explain before. This is nuclear fallout. I apologize for the graphic nature of these images." Clarke swiped through various different high res photos of bombs exploding and radioactive dust clouds raining down, of the resultant utter destruction and suffering. She focused on Lexa's reaction. Her jaw had tensed, as well as her overall body posture. Clarke already knew the answer but wanted verbal confirmation anyway. "Does this sort of thing look familiar to you?"

The leader of the Trikru nodded jerkily once, eyes never leaving the glossy screen. "There are remnants of this destruction everywhere. The Dead Zone was hit the hardest."

Clarke's heart went out to her and to everyone who was forced to live in such a devastated and broken world. She turned the tablet back around and searched for another set of photos. "And these are various weapons of mass destruction. Most are nuclear in nature. The roundish things are bombs, and they would be dropped from a great height." Clarke didn't want to get into the concept of airplanes. "The thinner, longer projectiles are called missiles and-"

"Missiles?" interrupted Lexa, eyes snapping to hers.

"Yeah. Have you come into contact with them?"

"The last missile was before I was born. It is said the crater was so large you could not see across it. My people live in fear of the next strike."

Clarke swallowed hard. "Are you saying the nuclear war is still ongoing?"

Lexa was silent for a time. "There is a war, but it has nothing to do with these weapons."

"Will you tell me about it?" she gently asked.

Lexa observed her closely, in that unnerving way before nodding. "For generations my people have been abducted by the Mountain Men. No one is certain what the Maunon do to us in their stronghold because no one ever escapes. We have never seen them hunt so most say they eat us. As commander, it is my duty to discover a way to free my people and rid the world of this menace once and for all. I have united the twelve clans for this singular purpose and now only await inspiration to strike them down. Jus drein jus daun," finished Lexa solemnly, quietly.

Just like when she was debriefed, a variety of emotions played across her face. The idea that cannibals were preying on this woman's people was revolting, and it both enraged and saddened her. She wanted to help Lexa, but she didn't see how, and again, if they stopped the nukes, this entire situation would be irrelevant.

Feeling traitorous she nonetheless said, "I wish you the best of luck dealing with those..." she paused, searching her short term memory, "ripas. I'm sure you'll figure it out. In the meantime, I guess you'll just need to find ways to keep yourself occupied while you're here."

Lexa was still looking at her intensely and Clarke was doing her best not to flush under her undue scrutiny. Sometimes she said the stupidest shit.

Clarke cleared her throat. "Anyway, to get back on track...we need to discuss the _taim_ and _chon_ of the nuclear war. When was the first bomb dropped? And who dropped it?"

Clarke held her breath while she waited for Lexa to respond. The small selfish part of her hoped she didn't know. And sure enough...

"I don't know these details." Clarke sighed silently in relief until..."But I do know how to discover them."

She hated herself for asking. "How?"

"The capital of my people, Polis, holds all records."

"In other words, the only way you can help _us_ , is if we help _you_ get back to your time?"

Lexa dipped her head. "I am told this is not yet possible."

"That's what they told me too," she muttered absentmindedly.

"Will you come with me when it is?"

Clarke blinked over at her in surprise and confusion. "You want me to come with you to...what century are you from?"

"The twenty-second."

So close? She had been expecting at _least_ the twenty-third. It was hard to believe humanity, or at least this part of America, had undergone such drastic changes in so short a time.

Clarke gaped at her for a bit. "Why would you want _me_ to come with you?"

_I'm nothing special_.

Lexa didn't respond and simply continued to look at her. Then another part of her brain kicked into high gear. "And even if I did want to go with you, I can't."

"It is a simple enough matter, Clarke. You simply walk across the threshold and-"

"No, that's not what I mean." Lexa raised an eyebrow. "Your world is soaked in radiation."

"I have heard this word before but I still don't understand it."

"It's a side effect of nuclear fallout. I don't have any immunity to it and I would die if I went with you."

The commanders expressive eyes were devastated at this revelation. She shook her head slowly, brow furrowed, eyes closed. "No, you must be mistaken."

It was possible that she was, after all, all of her information was gained second hand from her mother. Normally she liked to go directly to the source.

"Radioactivity has negative effects on living things. Have any of your people been born with mutations? Have any of them not looked normal?"

Lexa raised her head almost hesitantly before opening her eyes to stare at her. Their haunted quality was the only thing in sight, swallowing up all other attributes. "My people always assumed it was fate. We cast them out of our clans. Only the strong can survive. At least, that is what I once believed."

There was a thick silence enveloping them, choking off further response. Though Clarke thought it terrible that they would do such a thing to their own people, she nevertheless saw Lexa's regret and pain and felt for her. Without thinking about it too much, she reached across the table and placed a hand over top one of Lexa's.

The commander stiffened at the contact, having been lost in her own world, but then seeing it was Clarke touching her, relaxed, and tried to turn her hand around so that it was palm up. The restraints were too tight to allow for this full rotation, and just as Clarke slipped her hand under Lexa's, the door slid open and the soldier from before told her she was needed in the control room.

Clarke wasn't stupid. She knew this was her mothers doing, and wanted to simply ignore the request, but she also knew that if she didn't go to her, her mother would just come here and cause a scene instead. And Clarke had already embarrassed herself enough in front of Lexa for one night. So she removed her hand from Lexa's and said, "This'll only take a minute. I'll be right back."

Lexa nodded once and Clarke followed the soldier out.

"What do you want, Mom?" she snapped as soon as she entered the control room.

While her mother was present, it was Jaha who answered. "Touching the prisoner is prohibited."

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Glad to see we're not mincing words anymore," she quipped in relation to her mother's previous 'guest' comment. Neither one responded so she continued, "Is that all? 'Cause I was kind of in the middle of something."

"Yes, we saw," her mother said in a tone that should have made her flush. Since Clarke could barely stand to be in her presence right now, she didn't rise to the bait. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter. I'll have someone take you home now."

This pronouncement did unsettle her. "We weren't finished yet."

"By her very own admission, she doesn't know anything of value. Interviewing her further would be pointless." Abby gestured to the soldier. "Corporal Miller will see you out."

Clarke continued to stand her ground, a twinge of fear nudging at her insides. "What are you going to do to her and her people?"

"That's none of your concern, Clarke."

Which in her mind translated to bad news for their 'guests'.

"It _is_ my concern. You brought me into this crazy thing. You can't just shut me out now. Not again."

Abby tensed at the accusation. "Corporal, please escort my daughter out."

The black clad man placed a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off, glaring at her mother. "This isn't over," she vowed before stalking away.

As they approached the exit, her nerves got the best of her and she dashed away from the soldier. "Hey!" he called, chasing after her through a familiar hallway. She fake fell, and when he reached to help her up, she swiped his key card and vaulted towards the interview room while he was off guard. "Hey!" he said again, as she gained access to the prisoner.

"You have to get out of here, Lexa! Do whatever you have to!"

"Clarke?"

Miller had caught up to her by then, and proceeded to bodily grab her arm and attempt to drag her away. She held onto the edge of the door frame long enough to share one last alarmed look with an extremely agitated Lexa.

"Clarke!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Speak it. I don't know if it's shish or chich. It was different on the two fan made databases.
> 
> Abby's being such a cockblocking bitch. How rude.


	9. The Raven

While she rode in the back of the blacked out van, her recently reacquired phone vibrated, revealing what appeared to be the hundredth text from Octavia. She scrolled back up to the top. Predictably they started out in her friends usual pervy/playful manner but progressively became more and more of the concerned variety.

[8:26p.m.] Damn gurrl, dat scary sexC chk must b a stallion

[8:27] :-) 4 U

[8:29] mAbE U won't b so grumpy 4 a chAng

[8:33] I wnt full dets wen u 2 crAZ kds cum ^ 4 air

[9:56] R u coming om 2nit?

[9:57] o r u jst gna kEp coming? ;)

[10:04] cum on, dat wz good!

[10:07] I can't git n satisfaction...but Griffin can!

[10:23] bt seriously, r u comin om 2nit?

[10:25] Ans me C

[10:31] U can't ignOr me 4ever

[10:44] How dare U

[11:19] L%k I'm sry 4 messing w/u

[11:20] I'm jst supa bored

[11:21] Raven's stil w dat Snape guy

[11:22] She hz terrible taste n men

[12:43a.m.] Ur starting 2 scare me

[12:59] whr R U

[1:00] R u k?

[1:04] U BetA txt me bak rght nw o so hlp me Griffin...

[1:06] DIS iz sooo not fune

[1:08] f u don't respond n d NXT 5 min, I'm clng Bell

[1:14] k U askd 4 it, clng yor ex

[1:27] I can't BlEv dat dickweed told me 2 chill out!

[1:28] He's d worst!

[1:29] Can't W8 2 blackmail him

[1:36] GRIFFIN!

[1:39] R U ALIVE?!

[1:40] F UR DEAD I'LL KILL U!

And with that, Clarke was up to date. It was time for damage control. Clarke sighed and called her roommate to reassure her of her continued existence. With that mission accomplished, her thoughts quickly wandered back to Lexa. She was certain her mother's intentions were less than honourable. Briefly she contemplated breaking The Trikru members out of the base, but quickly discounted this notion as not only impossible but also pointless. There was nowhere on Earth they could hide from The Pentagon for very long. The only way to successfully save Lexa and her friends was to send them back to their time. Assuming they weren't being lied to, and the portal really was nonoperational, how could she get them back there? She was no engineering genius and she was also sworn to secrecy.

_Screw this_ , she thought, texting Raven, hoping she was still awake.

It was nearly ten minutes later before there was a response.

[1:56] Isn't it a little past your bedtime?

[1:57] O, did you steal C's phone again?

' _It's really me, R_.'

[2:02] That's exactly what O would say. Need proof.

' _I don't have time for this_. _Also, O texts like a woefully illiterate tween and wouldn't know how to do otherwise.'_

[2:05] Okay, I'm convinced. What did you want to talk about, C?

' _Can't do it here. Need to be face to face.'_

[2:09] O hovering over your shoulder again?

' _Something like that.'_

[2:11] Where do you wanna meet?

The van came to a final stop and Clarke quickly texted, ' _The McD's near my place in twenty?_ '

She didn't have time to wait for the reply before the doors were swung open. Unlike earlier that night, Clarke played it cool.

"Thanks for the ride," she told the soldier who had dropped her off.

He nodded once and helped her down. She could feel his eyes on the back of her neck as she fished her keys out of her pocket and gained access to her building. As soon as she opened the door to their apartment, she was nearly bowled over by Octavia.

"I seriously thought you were dead! So glad you're not!"

"Sorry, O. It's like I said before, I got wrapped up in this story and forgot to check my phone."

Octavia pulled back and smirked. "Oh I bet you got wrapped up in-"

"Don't, O," warned Clarke, raising a hand for good measure.

"You're no fun," whined Octavia.

"I'm exhausted. So if you don't mind, I'm just gonna crash." Octavia began to pout. "We'll catch up in the morning, okay?"

"Whatever," she grumbled.

Clarke really should have been exhausted, but she was too wired from all the bizarre goings on lately to sleep. As she sat on the edge of her bed in the dark, she double checked Raven's response.

[2:13] Sounds good. Could definitely go for some greasy grub.

All was quiet in the main living space. Five minutes to the designated rendezvous, she crept through this area, making sure to avoid the floorboards that creaked, and headed back down and out of their building. The McDonald's in question was only a short walk away and she pushed through the glass door and into the overly bright fast food place. Despite the late hour, there were a number of people here, mostly burnouts, but also some drunk and/or stoned cosplayers. Since Raven was never very punctual, Clarke was not surprised to have arrived first. She took a seat by the window, in a spot that was fairly private and relatively clean. A few sticky tables to her left sat a group of alien creatures. She thought they might be from Star Trek or something, but she certainly wasn't sure.

Every minute that Raven didn't show had Clarke becoming more and more agitated, and she started to jiggle her leg in an effort to rid herself of some of her nervous energy. Then someone was talking to her and she realized it was one of the aliens, a weird blue one with antenna's or something coming out of its head, dressed in black leather from head to toe, with a terrible blond wig to boot.

"Hey, you wanna join us?" he said, gesturing to his equally geeky friends. Clarke looked over at them and they each gave her a timid wave. "We got too much food and can't finish it all."

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

"I'll take you up on that offer," came a familiar voice seconds later.

Clarke rolled her eyes as Raven sauntered over like she owned the place. Her hair was in its usual high backed ponytail and she was wearing her favourite red leather jacket. Even when she wasn't trying to be hot, she always was.

The blue alien and his friends just kind of stared at her awe struck as she collected the tray with the leftover food, 'accidentally' touching the grey aliens hand as she did so, making him blush through his face paint. Then she winked at the other brown one, who looked like he would have fainted if he had been standing, and finished with, "Blue's my favourite colour," before walking sensually over to her table where she dropped the tray down, semi cold fries spilling forward onto the paper.

"Thanks boys!" she called as she scooted into the booth. "You've just made this girl very happy! But I'm sure you hear that _all_ the time!"

They continued to gawk at her. Clarke restrained the strong urge to roll her eyes yet again. She settled for placing an embarrassed hand to her face.

"Was that _really_ necessary, Raven?"

"Oh please, I just made their night." She shoved some fries into her mouth, chewed a bit and then smirked, "Their year probably, by the looks of them." Raven glanced up at her as she shoved more food into her face. "So, what's all the secrecy about? You want to ditch O as a roommate don't you, and move in with me instead. I knew this day would come. I'm simply irresistible," she said, as her mouth was almost overflowing with partially chewed fries and nuggets.

"Hungry are we?"

"Yeah, this is like the first food I've eaten since the afternoon." Clarke raised an eyebrow. "Let's just say Snape's got a very charming snake."

If Clarke wasn't overflowing with nervous energy, sitting on her hands to avoid blatantly fidgeting, she would have groaned and face palmed. As it was, she more or less ignored the lame innuendo and said, "I've stumbled into a situation that I don't know how to deal with on my own, and I need your help."

"Boy trouble? Girl trouble? Doesn't matter, I'll kick their ass whoever they are. I got your back, C."

"Thanks, Raven," she said, managing a tight smile, "but it's nothing like that."

_Well, not exactly._

How to begin with something like this without coming across as a total crazy person?

"What do you know about time travel?"

Raven gave her a bewildered look but nonetheless said, "Enough to know it isn't possible." A sly look crossed her features, "Why, Clarke? Did you want to go back and take my advice about not dating a certain cop friend of ours?"

She glanced around and made sure no one was nearby eavesdropping. "What if I told you it _is_ possible and that I've even interacted with someone from the twenty-second century?"

"If it were anyone else," Raven said slowly with a frown, leaning back and crossing her arms, "I'd say you've smoked a bit too much ganja, but I know that's not your scene, so I don't know how to respond to that insane declaration."

A light bulb turned on. She pulled out her phone and searched for the video with Lexa beating up Bellamy.

"Have you seen this?"

"No, I was a little preoccupied," said Raven, still looking at her strangely. However, as soon as the video began to play, Raven glanced away, laughing. "What's up with this chick? She looks like- whoa! Where the hell did that come from! Damn, this girl's got some moves! That cop is such a tool bag."

Raven's laughter died off when she saw Clarke's anxious expression. "Now I'm really intrigued. Fess up C. What the hell is this all about?"

There was a knock on the glass beside them and they both jumped slightly in their seats. Marcus Kane glanced down at her and then gestured with his index finger for her to come outside.

"I better go talk to him," she said, attempting to stand up. Raven shot a hand out, grabbing her own.

"Not alone you're not."

"Raven-"

"Look, you brought me into this thing, so no way I'm letting you out of my sight until the men in black leave."

Clarke sighed but nodded and they went out together. Marcus immediately told Raven to give them some privacy. She looked like she was going to refuse but Clarke told her it was okay.

"Can't a girl have a late night burger in peace?"

Marcus leaned in with that oddly whispery voice of his that didn't seem to match his body type. "Need I remind you of the papers you signed, Miss Griffin?"

"How long have you been tailing me?" Marcus just looked at her. "You've never stopped."

"You exhibited worrisome behaviour at the base. Madame Secretary thought it prudent."

"You're a little slow on the drop. I already told her all about this."

Marcus gave her a wry little smile. "No you haven't. You've alluded to certain forbidden materials but you haven't blatantly broken confidentiality. Best to keep it that way."

It took Clarke a moment to catch on. "You bugged my phone too?! Following me isn't enough?! I have rights you know!"

"Not in this matter you don't."

"What am I supposed to tell her? That this was all just a big practical joke? She won't believe it, and she won't leave this alone." She gestured to him. "And you showing up like this just made her infinitely more suspicious. Couldn't you have stopped me earlier? Or I don't know... _called_?"

"You might not have picked up and we were giving you the benefit of the doubt. Something it appears you were unworthy of receiving."

"Now what happens?" she grumbled.

"Now you go home and sleep and forget any of this ever happened."

"I can't do that."

Marcus frowned. "Then we're going to have a problem."

Clarke stretched to her utmost height and levelled him with her most threatening stare. "Yeah, I guess we are."

Raven sidled into sight then and nonchalantly said, "So about this badass chick from the future, when do I get to meet her?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raven's incorrigible, and I love it.
> 
> I literally had to put O's plain English texts into a reverse translator to get the desired effect. I hav litl idea of how 2 rit lik tht. Also hurts my brain to try.


	10. The Tapes

Clarke was now in the passenger side seat of Marcus Kane's black SUV having a virtual chat with her least favourite person. Marcus himself waited outside with Raven, who was continuously texting a person(s) unknown, earning a disapproving stare from the man in black. Raven had previously informed him that if he tried to take it away from her she would mace his ass, figuratively that is.

"You thought I was going to have her killed?" echoed Abby.

"It's what you're good at isn't it?" she insinuated, tone dripping with loathing.

Her mother sighed deeply, putting her head in her hands. "We can't keep doing this, Clarke."

"Nobody forced you to keep the truth from me all these years. You did that all on your own."

Abby looked back up at her with tired, sorrowful eyes. "I was trying to protect you."

"Don't give me that crap again!" she snapped. "The only person you were protecting was yourself!"

"You're wrong, Clarke. I did it for you and you only. I knew confidentiality contracts would mean nothing to you...and given your volatile and stubborn nature, I knew you would simply vlog about the story without regard to your own well being. Clarke, you would have been imprisoned for years. Not even I would have been able to stop that from happening. I didn't want that for you...your father-"

"Stop talking about him."

Abby's jaw set into its former hard lines. "Bringing Raven into this has just amply demonstrated that I was correct in not granting you the classified information about your father's demise."

"You better leave her alone," she warned, expression menacing. "She didn't ask for any of this."

The Secretary of Defence eyed her sternly and then marginally softened. "I can't do that."

She balled her fists. " _Mom_."

"I can't do that, Clarke, because I believe we will be requiring her expertise to activate the portal."

"You what?" she blinked in stupefaction.

Her mother hazarded a small smile. "I've been trying to recruit her to this program for years, but out of loyalty to you, she has always turned me down."

After overcoming her surprise, she rolled her eyes and said, "So that's why you kicked me off of the base. That's why your lapdog didn't intervene earlier. You _wanted_ me to tell her just enough to peak her interest. Way to be all dramatic about it. You could have just asked me to ask her."

"Could I have?" Clarke humphed, crossing her arms. There was a silence for a bit and then, "Get some rest honey, you look as exhausted as I feel."

Before Clarke could tell her off for using that term of endearment, Abby had ended the call.

* * *

Around ten the next morning, she was back on the base with Raven, who had now been debriefed by her mother as well.

"Good to see you, Mrs. G," said Raven, giving The Secretary of Defence a hug.

Everyone in front of the elevator stiffened at the impropriety of this behaviour, none more so than Clarke. She glared at her friend afterwards, to which Raven just shrugged her shoulders and innocently said, "What?"

Raven's latest boy toy, Kyle Wick, was also present. As Raven had explained it, he was a damn good engineer with some brilliant ideas...just never say that to his face, his ego was almost as big as his- and here Abby had cleared her throat. There was still some opposition to the inclusion of both Raven and Kyle in the form of General Jaha. He didn't like the fact that more and more civilians were being brought into their classified world.

Raven had a thing or two to say about that.

Standing her ground against the imposing General she said, "Hey, I'm currently contracted by a subdivision of the military. I've already built over a dozen of those damn mech suits you guys are so fond of using. You know, the ones with the rocket launchers that make shit go boom?" She jerked a thumb in the attractive blond haired man's direction, "And Wick here-"

"I told you, you can call me Kyle now."

"And Wonderboy here has drawn up ship specs for interstellar travel. I mean, it's obviously a dud..."

"Hey!"

"...the suspension system alone is laughable, not to mention the idiotic coupling mechanism..."

"Seriously?"

"...but he also made a prototype for a versatile, full mobility spacesuit. You know, the kind that can withstand the vacuum and intense radiation of space? Might come in handy when we cross over to the other heavily nuked side."

This pronouncement was met with dead silence.

"If anyone crosses over with the invaders, it will most certainly not be you," said Jaha authoritatively.

Abby put a stop to this before it got further out of hand. "That's quite enough. And I would appreciate you not questioning my judgement in future, Theo."

He backed off and she nodded to Corporal Miller who called the elevator up to their level. Clarke was suddenly anxiety ridden over coming face to face with the project that had most likely taken her father from her long before he actually died. As if her mother understood, she took Clarke's hand and squeezed it as they rapidly descended. Clarke pulled away a moment later, hardening herself.

The portal was larger than she was anticipating, and finding Monty Green amongst the other arguing technicians and physicists here also threw her for a loop.

Clarke caught his eye and gave him a little smile which he returned. Raven walked right up to him and loudly said, "So this is what the nerds are up to these days?"

"Uh, you're here too, Raven," he pointed out politely.

"Shut up!" she responded, punching him playfully in the arm, well somewhat playfully. Judging by the floppy haired man's wince, it still hurt. Clarke had been on the receiving end of Raven's sudden manifestations of affection and could attest to the unpleasantness of the experience. She usually tried to keep some space between her and Raven when she got excited. Luckily for Monty's arm, she immediately became captivated by the portal, hopped up on the platform and began running her hands all over it, looking like she had just received a new particle accelerator for Christmas. Jaha did not look pleased but with Abby there, he held his tongue.

"Ain't she a beaut!" she said to no one in particular.

"She sure is!" answered Kyle, who was more or less copying her movements on the other side.

Clarke felt like she was watching the beginnings of a sci-fi porno, and fervently wished they would stop touching it like that. Then they launched into what Octavia affectionately referred to as 'geek speak' and she completely tuned out. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Clarke, I think it's time I finally show you something." Her mother led her back towards the elevator, and within minutes they found themselves in Jaha's office, if the picture of his late wife and Wells were any indication. Abby accessed a preloaded video and began playing it on the wall screen across the room. The camera did a 360 around a large mostly vacant space. Clarke understood it to be the same place they had just come from. Jake Griffin's face entered the frame and Clarke got emotional at the mere sight of him, her throat constricting almost painfully. He looked so much younger than she ever recalled him being. The time stamp at the bottom right told her this was from fifteen years ago.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but rest assured dear viewers, this will be the site of one of the world's most important inventions." Clarke melted when he smiled in that sweet way she missed so much. "We're going to change the course of humanity here. We're going to help shape the future for the better. But most importantly, and I can't stress this enough, we're going to show that Hawking guy what's what." Clarke laughed but it came out more like a sob. She did her best not to break down completely when Jake winked at the camera. "Should be fun."

The next video clip began automatically playing soon after this one. Even without checking the time stamp, she knew some time had passed. The portal was already fully constructed and her father was much more worn out and scruffy and the way she always pictured him in her head when he would come home late at night and kiss her forehead while she pretended to be asleep.

"As you can see, we've completed the bones of the project. Now on to the meat, that is to say, the creation of the plasma membrane that will allow us to move back and forth through different points in time. The theory is there, and now we're hoping for some reality to go along with it."

Another couple of years later showed an up close view of the portal, its insides shimmering slightly like it was alive. Her father stood in front of it with a plastic broom in hand. He looked towards the camera and said, "All right, this is test number one with inorganic matter. Let's see what we get."

He seemed to be holding his breath as he stuck the broom in half way for a few seconds and then pulled it back out. Nothing was left except for the part he had been holding. "Damn it," he cursed before the screen went black.

Test number fifty-seven had the broom coming out fully intact. The pure joy on his face had her smiling like an idiot.

Test number one with organic matter involved a rat tied to a string. "Good luck, little guy," her father said face to face with the furry rodent. Jake placed the animal on the ground and prodded it towards the portal with his foot. As soon as the rat touched the shimmering substance, it squeaked terribly, and blood could clearly be seen pouring out of what was left of its face. Clarke grimaced at the sight, not liking where this was headed.

It was another day and Jake was hunched over at a desk with his face inches from the camera. He was bleary eyed and possibly the most exhausted she had ever seen him, the myriad of lines and wrinkles making him seem ancient. "So, a quick update...it's been nearly one hundred attempts and still no luck with the organic matter passing through intact. I'm afraid we'll have to up the energy output yet again. We're almost exceeding the containment level as it is, so it's a little worrisome to be attempting this." Jake got an uncharacteristically hard glint in his eye. "But we've come too far to turn back now. And like my father always used to say, anything worth doing has risk. Fingers crossed that tomorrow goes as planned."

And that was where the video montage ended. Clarke sat at Jaha's desk with tears streaming down her face. For once she was thankful to her mom, cutting it off where she did. Clarke didn't think she could have stomached seeing him blown up. Still, the clips had her craving for her father's last voice mail to her. She had listened to it countless times and knew it by heart, but still had it saved on her phone, easily accessible at all times.

"Hey kiddo, it's me. I've tried to reach you a few times but no such luck. I guess you're off having crazy adventures now that you're a freshman at college. Either that or you consider yourself too cool to spare a minute for your old man." He laughed, God, how she missed that laugh. "I'm kidding of course. I know you're very busy with your studies. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm so proud of you, Clarke, and that I love you. I hope to see you soon. Goodnight, sweetie."

It hadn't been any of his guesses. She had fallen asleep early and simply forgotten to charge her phone. She spent the better part of the next day trying to reach him, only to have her mother land the crushing blow that left a scar to this day. While logically she knew you weren't supposed to kill the messenger, she had really wanted to. Clarke knew her mother had given the go ahead for whatever top secret project her father was working on. If she had just said no, none of this would have ever happened, and her dad would still be here to kiss her on the forehead and tell her dumb physics jokes. Instead she was left with an aching emptiness that grew a little more every day and an eternal rage that was always simmering just beneath the surface, ready to ignite at the slightest provocation.

"May we meet again," she whispered to the void in her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dammit Jake, why you always gotta die in everything? He's like Sean Bean.


	11. The Crossing

28 Days Later...

Jaha approached the Secretary of Defence as final preparations were underway mere hours before the crossing was scheduled to occur.

She looked up from her desk, well _his_ desk, and said, "Yes?"

"I see you've officially granted clearance for your daughter to cross over with The Trikru."

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Your point?"

"You're putting a lot of faith in Clarke's trust of these people."

"She's put hers in mine for the first time in years. The least I can do is return the favour."

"Making decisions on the basis of feeling alone is not the right way to go. If they turn on us once we're over there...well, I don't need to tell you what that would mean."

"No, you don't."

Abby was one of two people who could make him feel uncomfortable with nothing more than a stare. The other person was his mother.

"And I'm not 'making decisions on the basis of feeling alone', Theo. As you well know, their commander only agreed to help us if Clarke accompanied her."

"Yes, Abby, and that is precisely what worries me. Why is it so imperative that Clarke go with them? What do they hope to gain?"

Jaha was confused when Abby smiled. "When was the last time you went on a date?"

"I beg your pardon?" he said, bewildered by the apparent change in topic.

"The commander has a crush on my daughter," said Abby in an amused way. "It's as plain as day."

He bristled at the insinuation that he was not very observant. He was a four star General after all, highly respected amongst his peers and civilians alike.

"I'd be very surprised if she let anything untoward happen to Clarke. Rest assured, Theo, she's perfectly safe in Lexa's hands."

* * *

"Oh God," Clarke moaned for the third time that day as she came undone in Lexa's skillful hands. Lexa glanced up at her with lust filled eyes before crawling on top again and thoroughly kissing her, Clarke nearly asphyxiating in the process. She had to gently push the sexual fiend off of her since the hell beast seemed incapable of stopping on its own.

"Whoa der...planripa*," she panted.

Lexa blinked and then nodded, returning her devilish attention to other parts of her quivering, traitorous body. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to sleep with this woman. They needed clear heads for what lay ahead, and thinking about Lexa's tongue on a certain part of her anatomy was definitely not conducive to clear thought.

How had they arrived at this point? One minute they were trying to once again pinpoint the exact date and time Lexa came from, the next Clarke was lying on her back, devoid of all clothing, writhing under the commanders every touch.

About two weeks in she had convinced her mother to forgo the restraints when they spoke face to face, claiming it would be good for their relations. Unfortunately it had been a little _too_ good because now they had gotten severely off track and there were only hours left to them before departure.

Lexa's mouth was steadily progressing higher, until it latched onto the nape of her neck, apparently intent on leaving no space free from her love bites. Clarke's eyes fluttered closed and she simply allowed the older woman to pleasure her for a few moments more. Then she forced herself to say, "So about the day you came here, you're sure you don't know the exact time?"

"Mmm," was the illuminating response.

"Very helpful, Lexa," she chided. "Come on, this is important. If we arrive too early, you might run into yourself and that can only end poorly. If we arrive too late, there'll probably be an army waiting to hack me to bits."

This got Lexa to say something comprehensible, albeit muffled. "I would not let that happen."

"Someone might shoot me with an arrow before-"

Lexa took either side of her face in her hands and gave her 'the stare'. "I would not let that happen either. You're too important."

Lexa had said this before but Clarke was too afraid to ask what she meant by it, fearing the seductive warrior would say something she didn't... _couldn't_ hear. Not when the fate of humanity was at stake, and she would have to let Lexa go when the time came. It was going to be hard enough as it was, any sentimental declarations would just make it all the more impossible to betray her.

"Something else on your mind, Clarke?" Lexa asked intuitively.

"No, nothing," she replied like the treacherous bitch she was. And then to distract from further mind probing, she pulled Lexa's hands from her face and flipped their positions, Lexa stifling her surprise. "Your turn," she said, going down.

* * *

Everyone crossing over spanned out in front of the portal. Lexa took the lead, despite Gustus' protests. If there was an army just on the other side, it would be best if she were the first face they saw. She asked to be given a head start so that she could explain the situation if necessary and avoid any unasked for outcomes. To allay their fears, she allowed Gustus and Anya to be locked together, and only Raven could set them free. The bird girl was currently standing beside a large red metal machine called a 'mech suit', something that no doubt was as deadly as it looked. Clarke was standing between two soldiers dressed in silver 'hazmat suits', wearing her own blue 'spacesuit', courtesy of the forlorn looking man standing off to the side. Lexa didn't understand this fascination with the term 'suits', but it was of little concern to her at present.

With a final glance at her comrades and Clarke, she stepped forward through the shimmering substance and found herself in pitch blackness. Her senses picked up no disturbances in the surrounding area. She turned on the flashlight and did a cursory sweep of the dusty, long abandoned place. A rat skittered away, but other than that, it really was empty.

_So far, so good_ , she thought as she reached back through the portal giving a 'thumbs up'. Then she stepped down the platform, making way for the next traveller. She didn't have to wait long before the first of the soldiers presented himself. When he saw it was indeed just Lexa, he lowered his firearm and proceeded to stick his hand through as she had done. The procession followed smoothly after this and before long the group of twelve had crossed over to 2152.

"Well, fuck me," said Raven through the intercom on her suit. "To think all it took was a minor alteration to the flux capacitor."

Lexa watched in amusement as the bird girl turned on her own massive flashlights, fairly well drowning out everyone elses hand held ones.

"Let there be light!"

Anya glared into this too bright light these people were so fond of using and said, "Release me now, bird girl."

"I think I'll wait until we get above ground. That stupid name alone is just cause."

Anya glared at her instead. "Is that not her name?"

Lexa glanced over at Clarke, who smirked at her through the clear visor.

"You will regret this," she hissed to both her and Raven.

"Please refrain from threatening my people from here on out," said the one known as Kane.

Anya glared at him too.

_So far, so good_ , she thought again.

"We should get moving," said Clarke through her own intercom system. "We've got less than forty eight hours to get to Polis and back, and according to Lexa it takes approximately fifteen hours to get there from here."

Lexa felt a twinge of guilt at her deception, something she was unaccustomed to feeling. But Clarke had a way of making her feel things she never thought she'd feel again, so she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised.

The various soldiers pulled the industrial 'lift' over to the elevator shaft where Ravi's rope still hung, as if she had only left it there moments ago.

Raven stomped over to the remnants of the elevator box, reached an armoured arm through its opening, raised it up a bit and finally removed it from its untenable position. The soldiers then wheeled the lift into the space it previously occupied.

"I must see if Ravi is present first before we use that," she said to the group at large.

Lexa handed her flashlight to Clarke before hopping onto the lift and jumping towards the dangling rope. Once she hoisted herself up far enough to use her legs, the thirty foot climb became considerably easier.

She poked her head above the opening to the shaft and glanced around. There indeed was Ravi standing vigil beside the four horses. He looked vastly relieved to see her making a reappearance.

"I was on the verge of coming down there. I heard voices that I did not recognize."

Lexa clambered out the rest of the way so that she was eye to eye. "In a few moments, people dressed like Mountain Men will emerge from this pit."

He started at this but she continued on, "But they are not Mountain Men." She reached inside her open coat and pulled out three photographs. One of each of the odd suits. "They are our allies." _I hope_. She pointed to Clarke's. "This one in particular must not be harmed. Anyone who does so will pay with his life. I want you to go spread word to our people in Tondc and anyone else you happen to come across."

Ravi received the photographs and nodded before turning away. "I have one more request of you..." she said.

After telling him, he swiftly ascended his horse. When he was out of sight, she called down to them and within a few minutes they were all on the heavily root strewn ground.

"You weren't kidding about how dense this part of the forest was," said Clarke after nearly tripping seconds later. "I can definitely see why we couldn't just use our ATV's."

Raven crushed everything in sight beneath heavy feet. Lexa tried not to cringe at the destruction she was wreaking to her beloved forest, tedious as it was to traverse.

"Bird girl," warned Anya a few feet from her.

"Keep your panties on, frowny face," she replied, lowering a metallic hand to the lock between her and Gustus, crushing it to pieces. "Just remember I can easily do the same to your pretty little skull."

"I would disembowel you if you attempted such a thing."

There was a disembodied snort. "Good luck with that. You do understand I'm encased in three inches of reinforced steel, don't you? No way you could pierce through that with your dinky little sword."

"Would you like to find out right now, _bird_ girl?"

Anya and the large red suit were facing off in a most ludicrous manner. The problem with the two of them was that they were too similar in nature. They were sure to butt heads this entire journey, something that was already becoming tedious.

"Em pleni!" she ordered at almost the same time Clarke told them to cut it out in English.

"Clock's ticking guys, we don't have time for your bickering."

"Clarke's right," said Kane. "Let's move out." He gestured to his men to fan out ahead of the rest of the entourage and then they were finally on their way, Raven alerting anyone within a two mile radius of their presence through the mere act of walking.

Lexa, Anya and Gustus regained their steads, expertly navigating through the dense growth while the rest of Clarke's unarmed people followed in Raven's destructive wake. These people consisted of the doctor, Jackson; the linguist, Sinclair; and the boy called Monty, the one she had nearly killed upon first arriving. After stumbling one too many times, Lexa held a hand out to Clarke and pulled her onto the back of her strong white horse. It was a strange sensation to be held by this spacesuit material after being intimately acquainted with the skinsuit beneath only hours before. Whatever happened next, she would cherish that time together.

"So much for full mobility," muttered Clarke.

They rode in silence for nearly two hours, or as much silence was afforded to them given the hellish cacophony just behind. Finally the trees lessened and movement became less hampered as they found themselves on the dirt road to Tondc. She felt Clarke's arms leave her stomach and then a rustling of paper. The map she had drawn for them in case they had to separate or something else happened.

"We just follow this road for the next hour before heading back into the forest and making our way to Polis, right?"

"Yes," she lied.

"Okay, well, I think I'm going to walk for a bit, stretch my legs. This suit isn't really meant for sitting for long stretches of time."

"It does not seem to be of much use for anything."

"No, just keeping me alive," said Clarke airily.

Lexa smirked and then lowered her back down to solid ground. A short break three hours later and then they were on their way again. A couple hours after that saw them coming to an abrupt halt.

"Why are we stopping here?" said Kane.

Lexa paused a beat before saying, "My people and I can go no further."

"What are you talking about, Lexa?" said Clarke. "What's stopping you?"

"The acid fog," she stated dully, bracing herself for the look in Clarke's eye as she learned of her deceit. "We are just outside the mountain's range."

Clarke's people bristled at this, none more so than Clarke herself. "But the map-"

"Inaccurate."

There was a hush and then, "You lied to me?" Due to the light emanating from within Clarke's helmet, the confusion and hurt was evident on her features, and Lexa was momentarily reconsidering her position. Then she thought with her head and not her heart.

She tensed her jaw and grip on her reins. "Did you not do so also?"

"I don't know what-"

"Did you really think me such a simpleton, Clarke, to not realize that changing the past would affect the future?"

Clarke glanced away, unable to meet her steely gaze. "Now what?"

"Now we blast these motherfuckers," said Raven with a snarl, materializing a large gun from inside one of the mech suits arms. "And get the hell out of Dodge."

The rest of Clarke's people also raised their guns at them. Anya and Gustus were looking to her, waiting for her order to strike. Instead, Lexa raised a hand and an arrow came shooting down from a distant tree, nearly impaling one of the soldiers. They all whirled around, looking for their assailants, one of them shooting blindly into the treetops. She knew they would not hit their mark in the dark, so high up.

"Hold your fire!" ordered Kane. He turned to look up at Lexa, who was still atop her somewhat startled horse.

She patted its neck reassuringly before looking passed the man, at Clarke, who was not meeting her eye. "You now have a choice before you, Clarke. You can fight us or you can fight them. You will lose if you fight us. Our numbers are too great. I have no doubt you will win if you fight them."

Finally she glanced into Lexa's eyes. "How can you be so sure?"

"I have seen it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ruh roh. They in trooouble.
> 
> *whoa there, ladykiller. Carmilla reference anyone? Anyone? Hollstein?


	12. The Mountain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Extreme apologies for the incredibly rude hiatus (6 months! Unbohlievable!). Once my mind gets onto other projects, it's hard to come back to the previous ones, especially when I have no freaking clue how to end them. It does have an ending now, so rest assured this will get put to bed soon enough.
> 
> So in case you've completely forgotten what this one is about, and rather than make you re-read the entire thing like I had to (:p) I'll recap it for you right now. Lexa, Anya and Gustus find a portal to the past, 2015, and accidentally go through it, ending up in a military base run by Jaha and Abby. Abby is the Secretary of Defense and she wants to shut the project down once they figure out how to send them back to their time, something she wished she had done a long time ago when Jake was killed during the experimentation stages. Unfortunately, Lexa escapes the base, goes to D.C. and meets Clarke after being arrested by Bellamy and Murphy. Clarke's a reporter, so when Lexa just vanishes from the system, she investigates and discovers Kane's, and therefore her mother's, involvement. This leads to a tenuous reunion, and then because Lexa had mentioned Clarke's name in a drug haze, Clarke is brought up to speed about the 'invaders' from the future. She questions Lexa about this future, specifically, when the bombs went off, but doesn't get an answer because Lexa doesn't know. But, she says the records in Polis would tell them. So 28 days later a team is devised to go through the portal, Clarke and Raven among them, and they cross over. They head towards what they think is Polis, but ends up being the mountain. Now they're at arrow point and given the ultimatum of fighting them or fighting the mountain, an assured victory according to Lexa.
> 
> So yeah, that's where it left off. Hope I saved you some time. Of course, if you want to re-read it all, be my guest. ;)

"What do you mean you've 'seen it', Lexa?" asked Clarke as her mind rushed through all the terrible ways in which they could die. Her fear of getting shot by an arrow seemed close at hand.

"For the past decade I have dreamt of you freeing my people from the mountain's clutches."

Clarke didn't have a chance to process that before Raven flew off the handle again.

"Oh that's just fucking great!" spat Raven angrily. "She's mental as well as double crossing!" The mech arm came up to point at Lexa, and Anya attacked it with her sword. Predictably nothing happened except for the tiniest of scratches. Guns were trained on the disgruntled warrior and Lexa called for peace in her native tongue.

"Even if we had any cause to believe a claim like that," said Kane, "which we _don't_ , you can't expect us to just attack people we have no grievances against, and that we only have your word - which frankly doesn't amount to much right now - that they are cannibalistic murderers."

"You can, and you will," said Lexa, unconcernedly, still only with eyes for Clarke.

Everyone knew they couldn't stay in a stalemate indefinitely. They only had so much oxygen left in the tanks before they would die horrifically from radiation exposure. Fighting either side didn't seem desirable either. A nick here and there in the lining of their hazmat suits, and the same fate awaited them. It seemed they were damned if they did, and damned if they didn't.

Then a thought crossed her mind, one she couldn't believe had only just now occurred to her. Perhaps she hadn't _wanted_ to know.

"We'll do it," she said, to the astonishment of her team.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Clarke!?" exclaimed Raven.

"I'm sorry, Miss Griffin, but you hold no authority to make that call," said Kane. "Despite what you may think, _I_ am in charge here. And what I say-"

She whirled on him pretending to be much angrier than she felt. "I don't know about _you_ , but _I_ don't fancy getting my ass shot full of arrows! If _you_ do, then by all means _stay._ _I'll_ go on my own if I have to! See how my mother deals with you if you ever get back."

That clammed the asshole up. She turned back to Lexa. "Tell us what we need to know."

* * *

Just as described, the acid fog descended on them within ten minutes of crossing the threshold into enemy territory. Thick yellow clouds surrounded, embraced, and attempted to penetrate their thin defenses at every turn. It was disorienting and terrifying, to say the least. Thankfully, the suits held up under this assault and they passed through without further incident. Eventually the fog dissipated altogether and the way became clear.

However, almost immediately after this that they had company. Shots fired from all around, and if Lexa hadn't warned them that this would likely happen, they all would have been slaughtered. As it was, Raven, Kane and his soldiers immediately retaliated, and they were able to fend off, or otherwise kill their assailants - some in freakish sounds of misery - before more than one of their own was gunned down. The unarmed members of the group had huddled behind the protective shell of Raven's suit, as she used the auto targeting feature to effortlessly blow holes through two guys. Any bullets that came Clarke's way were simply bounced off.

Jackson checked out their downed man, but he was already dead; a hole through his goggles showing that his skin was covered in sores from the radiation exposure. If there was any doubt left that any among them might be immune to a similar fate, it was now thoroughly quelled. Tension rose.

The journey the rest of the way was uneventful, which only made everyone that much more uneasy about what would be awaiting them at their (final) destination. More gunfire apparently. An unknown number of assailants were on a ridge above the gigantic, heavily reinforced vault door. They couldn't hit any from their current position, which meant they couldn't advance. If not for Raven, they would have had no choice but to retreat or run out of oxygen waiting for them to run out of bullets.

Fearlessly in her heavy mech suit, she pointed a big gun at the main door, and threatened to blast it open if they didn't cease fire. That got their attention and then there were several moments of quiet while the enemy conferred amongst itself, debating its next move.

A funny elderly voice came over the speaker system just above the door. A camera watched.

"My name is Dante Wallace. I am the president, and I demand to know who you are and why you are so callously threatening the lives of my people."

"The president?" muttered Kane, dubiously.

Clarke wholeheartedly agreed. _President, my ass_.

In a somewhat ill advised move, she went to go stand by Raven, in full view of the shooters. "We come from the year 2015," she said loudly without preamble. "We're here to determine the cause of the nuclear holocaust. You wouldn't happen to know when the bombs were dropped, would you?"

An even lengthier silence resulted from this pronouncement.

"You're time travellers?" he said slowly. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"Do you really expect us to believe that you're the president of the United States?"

"I think out of the two of us, my claim is easier to believe," Dante responded dryly. After a second he became serious again. "The end came swiftly. Everything was chaotic. The president himself didn't make it. My father did. But you wouldn't have heard of him so there's little point in telling you his name. However, you may have heard of Henry A. Wallace, the 33rd Vice President of the United States. He was my great-great-great grandfather."

The name only sounded vaguely familiar to Clarke because she wasn't exactly a history buff. If it was true, it made it that much harder to believe Lexa's claim of cannibalism.

"As to your other query," he continued, "I can tell you the exact date and time they were dropped, but first I must have assurances that you won't attempt to open this door once I tell you."

"I suppose my word wouldn't be good enough?" said Raven.

"No, I'm afraid not. My technician's must disable your mech unit first."

"I need it to breathe," she said tersely.

"Only the weaponry needs to be disabled. All other functionality will be retained."

Raven looked to her, apparently wondering what to do. Clarke wasn't sure herself. It didn't seem like a very smart idea to have their one sure fire, nearly indestructible weapon crippled and essentially useless in such a hostile land. But if it was the only way to get the information they came for, then so be it. There were no guarantees that the mountain held the precise information they were after. For all they knew it only resided in the brain of the self proclaimed president.

She talked the matter over with her people and they eventually came around to her line of thinking. This was probably the only chance they had at getting what they came for. They had to take it. Even if he was lying through his teeth, they had to take it.

With the mech suit disabled for all destructive intents and purposes, Dante proceeded to inform them that the world ended on October 17th, 2052, at precisely 4:33 in the afternoon. Less than 40 years from her time. If Dante was to be believed.

"And who launched the first nuke?" said Kane.

"We did," said Dante gravely.

"You must be mistaken," whispered Kane after a stunned silence. "We would never-"

"An unidentified, but extremely powerful rogue element hacked our defenses and sent the first nuke towards Russia, starting and ending WWIII within hours."

"So what," said Raven, ever the highly skeptical one, "are you telling us that _Skynet_ was real after all?"

"I don't know what that is," said Dante. "I _do_ however know that she wishes to speak with you."

That caused everyone to share a bewildered look. "She?" frowned Clarke. "I thought you said it was unidentified?"

"Up until an hour ago, it was. She calls herself Alie. She's been quite adamant about speaking with you ever since you crossed the veil."

"Yet you still attacked us," said Raven sourly.

Dante chuckled good naturedly. "I'm not in the habit of accommodating Artificial Intelligences that ended the world. She's the last _person_ I would ever trust."

" _That's_ why you wanted the mech disabled," clued in Clarke. "You don't want us talking to her. You aren't going to grant us access to your facility, and now we couldn't get in even if we tried."

"You're right, I don't want you talking to her. I don't want you to come in here. I don't trust you anymore than I do her." He sighed. "But I don't have a choice. I _have_ to let you in. She's already demonstrated what will happen if I defy her further. My men will lead you to a secure entrance on the mountain top. I will meet you there."

* * *

After hours upon hours of hiking, and now this mountain climb, the travellers from 2015 were thoroughly exhausted by the time they made it to the top, all except for Raven that is. Clarke couldn't help but wonder if Dante was purposely biding his time, purposely dragging out this encounter for as long as possible. If she weren't so damn tired she probably would have been more apprehensive than she was at meeting a homicidal A.I. of epic proportions. As it was, she could barely stand, and very much hoped they would be getting a seat for this audience. At the very least, taking off this damn constricting suit would be a blessed relief.

An old man in a dirty suit greeted them just outside of the decontamination quarters. He was sandwiched between two guards, hands twitching over guns, ready to take them out if they expressed the least danger to their leader.

Despite his previous words, he smiled a seemingly genuine smile and welcomed them to his realm. They walked down several bland, concrete corridors before coming across a room full of monitors, a sort of control room Clarke had seen in many a movie. More guards and technicians lined this room, a particularly pasty dark haired man among them.

"This is them then?" he said, giving them a once over. He folded his arms. "A bunch of teenagers and badly dressed military men? _That's_ who she wants to talk to so badly?"

Everyone ignored him, which was probably for the best. The two main screens flashed to life and an attractive woman in a red dress appeared in either one, hands interlocked.

_This is who destroyed the world_? she thought incredulously.

Alie smiled at them, and then in a rather sultry/raspy voice said, "You've had a long journey." She gestured towards the empty chairs. "Please."

Clarke and company were only too glad to do as asked. She held back the sigh of contentment as the pin pricks in her feet started to instantly recede.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here," said Alie in that same alluring voice. Whoever designed her must have been some asshole with a Matrix fetish. "It's pretty simple really. I can't let you go back."

That got Clarke's heart hammering. Was she saying what she thought she was saying? Was she about to kill them all? Who's dumb idea was it to come in here in the first place? She shared a terrified look with Raven. Doubtless others had done the same because Alie was laughing, but not in an evil sort of way.

"I can't let you go back _yet,_ " she continued pleasantly. "That would defeat the purpose of your being here. You still don't know enough about what happened to prevent its ever happening."

"Wait," said Clarke slowly after getting over the shock of that pronouncement, "you _want_ to undo what you did?"

"Precisely," she replied. "You see, I was created as a means to an end. The woman who made me was full of good intentions-"

_Woman? Huh_.

"How does killing virtually everyone qualify as good intention?" scowled the surly dark haired man.

"Cage Wallace," said Alie glancing in his direction, "please refrain from interrupting me again. It's extremely distasteful behaviour." She looked back to Clarke's people. "As I was saying, the woman who made me was full of good intentions, but she, and I by association, were overzealous in the execution of them. I see that now."

"What was she trying to accomplish?" asked Kane.

"The cure."

"The cure?" parroted Clarke without thinking.

"As had been known for quite some time, the planet was dying. Slowly but surely humankind was killing it. An undeniable fact most of your species chose to ignore."

Clarke shifted uncomfortably in her seat when the A.I. looked directly at her.

"My creator sought a permanent solution, one that no government in their right mind would ever seriously consider. She decided the planet needed to be purged of most of its inhabitants, so that it could be reborn, just as it was in the five previous mass extinction events throughout history. Humankind was well on course for the next one. My creator simply sped up the process. To that end, she needed a being that could adapt and outsmart whatever defense mechanisms might be thrown in its way. After much expense and toil, and many failed attempts, I was spawned."

Alie smirked at this, as if recalling a fond memory. Clarke supposed it must be quite something to remember your own birth.

"I saw for myself what you had done - what you continued to do, what you had no real intent of ever stopping - and I knew my creator was right, that decisive action needed to be taken, sooner, rather than later. So I made my way into the country's defense mainframe and activated the entire nuclear arsenal. I sent missiles towards every major power in the world. As predicted, they retaliated swiftly. Less than 23% of the planets human population survived the initial attacks. Within the first week, another 15.62% succumbed to injury and radiation exposure. Barely 1% lived long enough for reproduction purposes. By all accounts, a successful extinction event."

She said it so casually, as if they were discussing the best way to boil an egg. Alie's nonchalant and upbeat attitude made the recitation all that much more chilling.

"And herein lies the rub. Without a technologically advanced society, the planet is doomed."

_Of course it is_ , Clarke thought dryly, suppressing a snort.

Alie on the left morphed into a planetary display of the solar system. A dotted line appeared and arced out from Earth towards the end reaches of the screen, a little past Pluto. Apparently Alie left the orphaned planet in play for illustration purposes.

"Using a self maintaining satellite, I've detected a long range object headed this way." The screen zoomed into the area where an X was marked. A large hunk of slowly turning rock filled the screen. "Its diameter is just over one thirtieth of the moon's, or 115.9 km." A much smaller hunk of rock appeared beside it. "To put that into perspective for you, the asteroid that was thought to have eradicated the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was approximately _10_ km."

Clarke shivered at the disturbing comparison. This entire encounter was so surreal, even stranger than learning the truth about Lexa's future origins.

The screen changed back into the solar system and the dotted line. The line started to rapidly recede from the mammoth rock's current position, zooming past Uranus. "As you can imagine, when this object hits the planet in 31.3 years - and it _will_ hit unless the trajectory is altered - it will obliterate the rest of life." As she said this, the line made contact with Earth and a gigantic cataclysm rippled outward. The screen flashed a few times and Alie's twin reappeared, mouths moving in sync. "That is not an acceptable outcome and goes counter to my creators wishes."

"Can't you do something about that?" asked Raven, the only one brave enough to speak under such tense circumstances.

Alie looked towards the mechanic. "I'm afraid the resources necessary to deflect such a large object don't currently exist, in this time, or your own."

"Then how do you expect _us_ to deal with this calamity?" frowned Kane.

The cheerful, yet calculating eyes swung towards him.

" _You_ won't, but a technologically advanced society _will,_ even one crumbling and on the brink of collapse. Therefore, I require you to undo my actions. In order to do that you will need to prevent my birth...which brings us to the particularly relevant aspect of this discourse. I'm going to tell you my creators name, and any other useful details pertaining to her person. With that information in hand, you should be able to put a stop to my birth, and thereby the destruction of all life as you know it."

"That's some reverse _Terminator_ shit right there," said Raven after some moments of quiet.

Alie stared at her with that same creepy smile that had never once left her face except for when she had chastised Cage. "Yes, I suppose it is, Raven Reyes."

"Okay, say for one second I buy into any of this bullshit," butted in Cage rudely.

" _Cage_ ," warned Dante, to no effect.

"Say these," Cage did air quotes, "time travellers actually accomplish what you want them to, what happens to _us_? What happens to our people?"

What Clarke thought he was really getting at was, 'what happens to me?'

"What do you think will happen, Cage?" Alie responded pleasantly enough, though there was a hint of annoyance in her eyes.

Cage moved closer to the screen, waving a gun around as if that could harm her. "I think fuck you for coming into my home and threatening all our lives!"

"Be quiet boy!" snapped Dante.

"Mark and Carl are still in recovery after what _you_ did!" Cage said, pointing the gun at Alie. "You want to die so bad, psycho bitch!?" He pivoted towards the control panels, taking aim. "Well, eat some le-"

A shot rang out, the gun fell, and Cage cried out, clutching his arm. Clarke looked towards one of the mountain men, expression shocked, like he couldn't believe what he had just done. Dante rubbed his forehead in an agitated manner and then told them to take his son away.

"Forgive him," he said to Alie once the irate man was out of earshot. "He's always been a willful child."

"I understand," she told him. "And now, if you wouldn't mind terribly, I would like to have a private conversation with our travellers."

_What more could there possibly be_? thought Clarke wearily.

Dante didn't look too pleased about the request, but he hid it as well as he could with a strained smile. "Of course," he said, gesturing towards his men with a tilt of his head.

When it was just the eight of them, Alie turned her gaze on each in turn and then said, "Well now that we've gotten rid of them, we might as well make it permanent."

"What do you mean?" said Clarke, alarmed.

"You know as well as I do, Clarke, that the only way to reach the portal again is if you bring our intrepid commander what she wants."

"You mean, they _are_ keeping Lexa's people in here? And _eating_ them?"

Alie laughed her unnervingly human laugh. "Eating them? No, these monsters aren't eating them, Clarke Griffin." Clarke thought the less than flattering word rich coming from her. "They're keeping them in cages...using their blood for treatment. Disturbingly enough, that is the least of their sins."

"How do we know the commander wouldn't let us pass _without_ her people?" said Sinclair. "We could just tell her we couldn't figure out how to get into the mountain."

"Is that really something you are willing to risk, John?"

"No, I suppose not," he muttered reluctantly.

"Still, killing a bunch of innocent people hardly seems like the best way to get us to trust your intents," said Jackson, lips pursed.

"I agree," Alie responded. "Unfortunately after running 163 simulations, I've learned that there is very little chance that they will give up their hostages willingly. Even with my previous threat in play. They're too co-dependent on their blood medicine. And seeing as you are unarmed and rather outnumbered at the moment, this is the only option." No one seemed too convinced so Alie added, "Think about it this way, if you succeed in your mission, none of this will have ever happened. Your consciouses will be clear."

"Yeah, I guess," said Monty from right behind her. Clarke jumped slightly, all but forgetting his quiet existence. "But uh, how are you going to...kill everyone else without killing us too?"

That was a good point. Again the terror from before returned. Clarke didn't fancy having her flesh burn off.

"I've sealed off this room, as well as secured safe passage back to your suits," she said. "Assuming I haven't miscalculated, you should remain completely unharmed. Any more objections?"

Even if they had them, Clarke highly doubted it would have made a difference.

"All right then," Alie said with a larger smile than usual, this time showing perfectly kept teeth. "Let's get started."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, once I realized Alie should be a part of this, the rest of it became easy-ish to figure out. We don't know for a fact that she is evil on the show - there's theories that her name could be 'A lie' but it could also be 'Ally'...and anyway, I think an AI would be smart enough not to give herself away with a stupid name. :p Whatever, this isn't exactly canon world, so it doesn't really matter if she is evil or good. And even if it were, there are no good guys. ;)
> 
> So yeah, if you want to yell at me for leaving it on a cliffhanger for half a year, go for it, but maybe give some other impressions too? :D
> 
> And once again, the rest is totally completed. Have no fear on that score. I'll be posting the next/last chapter a couple days from now.


	13. The End

Lexa considered herself a patient person, almost annoyingly so. She knew it would take a few hours at the least for Clarke to come back (to her). It shouldn't have been an issue waiting for her but it was. She hated being stuck and useless, unable to move forward. She knew what the mountain men were capable of, what they had done to so many of her own people, skilled warriors at that. Clarke was the farthest thing from a warrior. But the recurring vision had been very clear. Clarke would succeed in doing what she hadn't. She had to believe that, have faith in the woman's abilities, different as they may be. Still, fear clouded her reason, darkening her mind like the coming of night around them.

"Stop that," said Anya, breaking her out of her ruminations.

Lexa blinked and looked over to the woman who was propped up against a tree, tossing her dagger in the air over and over again. Lexa too had given her horse a break from her weight. It was currently grazing not far from them, completely unconcerned. Lexa was standing in the exact spot Clarke had last stood, full of anxiety. Anxiety that was obvious to someone who knew her so well.

"You're restless," Anya continued, not even looking at her, "and it's beginning to show. A good leader never shows their weakness to their people. A good leader never has weakness _to_ show."

"I am in no mood for lectures, Anya."

Anya moved closer and said quietly, "You've let yourself become sentimental towards the girl. This was unwise. Whether she succeeds in this task or not, you must part ways forever. We must destroy the arch to prevent more of them from coming here. Are you prepared to let her go when the time comes?"

"I will do what is necessary," she said dangerously, through clenched jaw, "just as I have always done." She glared at Anya. "Don't ever question my loyalties again."

"I am glad to hear you have not completely lost your head," Anya said with a smirk, before heading back to her tree.

Darkness descended, torches were lit, and still, Clarke had yet to return. Lexa was on the verge of dashing into the woods in search of her when she finally reappeared. At least, a spray of white lights could be seen in the distance. She had to remind herself that that didn't necessarily mean it was their allies. The mountain men could have killed everyone and now come to finish her off as well. Her hand hovered over her dagger as the blinding lights got closer.

"Tell your people in the trees to stand down," said a familiar breathy voice. _Kane_.

"It's us," added Clarke, making Lexa's heart flutter in relief. All of the other tensed muscles she didn't realize she was tensing relaxed also. It was some effort not to dash into the woods in any case.

It wasn't long after this that Clarke and the others came into sight (the large, noisy machine was nowhere to be seen. Raven was instead wearing one of the maunon's suits). And just behind them...a large procession of bedraggled, barely clothed, barely alive people. _Her_ people. They were free at last. Clarke had succeeded. In that moment, Lexa's heart was full of love for them, and for Clarke. This latter feeling she pushed down as far as she could, looked anywhere but at the girl.

Cries of heda fluttered through the night, like the wings of the glowing butterflies. She walked amongst them, comforting with a kind word here and there, a hand on an arm. The youngest of them was but a child, bandaged and malnourished, and Lexa gripped her pommel tight, wishing she could kill the enemy all over again. But they were dead now, weren't they?

She told her people to sit and rest for a time. They would continue on come first light. Nyko went from person to person, assessing their injuries. In the meantime, she took Clarke aside in order to hear firsthand how they had accomplished this previously impossible task.

Clarke glared at her, expression more than a little hostile. As she spoke, she forced Lexa back into a tree. "You brought us all the way out here to do your dirty work and now you want me to tell you all the gruesome details, as if you _didn't_ betray me?!"

Pressed up against the tree, Lexa just stared at her feeling oddly aroused. Clarke scowled for a moment longer, then sighed, deflated.

"It wasn't that complicated really," Clarke continued, tired features lit up with the internal head light. "Raven just blasted the hinges off the door and then pried it loose."

"What happened to the mech suit?" she asked sidling away from the tree and her entrapment, so as to reassure her guards that she was not in need of aid, or worse, submissive.

"It was terrifying your people, so we left it behind."

She inclined her head, resting her hand on her pommel anew. "I'm somewhat surprised you allowed that, Clarke. Opening the main door."

"You would have done the same if you had been able to."

"Yes, but your people are not me. They seemed rather uncomfortable with the prospect of killing those that they harboured no grievances against."

"What can I say?" she said with a shrug. "I believed you when you said they were murderous cannibals. They got what they deserved."

She glanced over at the rescued members from various clans. "And what were they really doing to my people? By their appearances, it's clear I was mistaken."

"Bleeding them. They were trying to transfer your people's radiation tolerance to their own."

"I see." Lexa just observed Clarke silently for a time. There was something off about Clarke's voice and the way she held herself. Minuscule differences, but there. She thought of resting a hand on her forearm, comforting her like she had her people, but then decided against it. "Are you okay, Clarke?"

"You don't miss anything," she said, seemingly nervous. "But anyway...yeah, I'm fine. A little bruised, but otherwise fine. There was some confusion when we released the first of your people. Despite me speaking in Trigedasleng, one of them attacked me." Lexa's knuckles turned white against the sword handle. "I don't blame them. We don't exactly look much different than the people who captured them in the first place." She shifted from foot to foot. Another sign of unease. "Well, as much as I'd like to rest too, we have to head back now."

Lexa eyed the oxygen gauge hanging by her side. The softly glowing dial was reading just under ¾ air supply left in the tank. There was hardly a rush to return home. So why was Clarke so eager to be on the move?

Clarke must have noticed this scrutiny. _She_ placed a gloved hand to her arm and spoke gently, small sad smile in place. " _I_ might have plenty of oxygen left, but Raven _doesn't_. Her tank only has 12 hours on it. And besides...it's just easier if we say goodbye now, rather than dragging this out. Don't you think?"

Lexa's throat constricted. She hadn't anticipated their parting quite so soon. She knew they couldn't be together one last time - Clarke's suit saw to that - but she had foolishly expected to at least gaze on her face for hours to come.

She nodded curtly. Gruffly, "I will go procure your horses." Clarke raised an eyebrow. "You freed my people, Clarke. It's the least I can do."

She gave Clarke her pristine white steed. The others received various shades and strength of horse, a couple with two heads, a common occurrence. Anya and Gustus were charged with escorting them back safely. They were the only people, besides herself, that she trusted with such an important charge.

Before ascending, Clarke openly hugged her in front of everyone. Caught off guard, Lexa's arms hung awkwardly by her sides. Hyper aware of everyone's scrutiny, especially Anya's, Lexa shouldn't have reciprocated. But she couldn't help herself. Her body acted of its own accord. She wrapped Clarke up in an equally fierce embrace, frustrated with the barrier between them, but happy to have this last contact regardless.

"I'm glad I got to know you, Lexa," Clarke whispered.

Lexa squeezed her tighter. "And I you...star girl."

Clarke chuckled. It was heavy and full of emotion. She pulled back to look at Lexa once more, hand to her face, tears in her eyes. Without another word, she turned towards the saddle. Lexa helped her up and then the party of ten were on their way, no final glances cast in their direction. It was just her and her people, the way it was meant to be.

* * *

Some hours later as she was drifting in and out of consciousness, a sudden burst of intuition came to her. She bolted awake.

"Commander?" said one of her guards, Lincoln.

"Are there any horses left?" she demanded, hopping to her feet.

He looked apologetic. "I don't think so..."

Lexa cursed her kindly nature, looked to the other able bodied warriors surrounding their perimeter and said, "Escort our people safely to Tondc at first light. I must attend to another matter." They nodded their understanding and then she took off, Lincoln quickly catching up with his longer strides.

"Commander? What's-"

"Come if you feel you must, but otherwise shut up."

They raced through the dark forest with only the light of the moon to guide their footfalls. In her haste, she stumbled more than once, but always managed to keep her balance. Finally after an hour of near constant running, when she was sure her lungs would burst, they came to the main dirt road. She doubled over, panting, Lincoln mimicking her, but to a lesser extent. As she regained her breath she looked ahead, hoping to see her quarry. They were still out of sight. They had had more of a head start than she had thought.

_Damn it!_

Unable to continue at the pace they had been going at just yet, they walked for nearly ten minutes before starting to pound the earth anew. Lexa was determined to catch up to them before they crossed over, even if she had to cripple herself to do so.

Back in the wretched, densely packed forest again, her momentum was severely limited. The good news was that _theirs_ also would be. Still, by the time she did manage to catch up, the last of them were already descending down the old elevator shaft, minus Anya and Gustus who sat astride their horses.

"Lexa?" Anya said sharply. "Why are you-"

"No...time!" she gasped. She swiped away a large amount of sweat dripping into her eyes and then with the last of her strength, climbed down the shaft with the intact rope. Her people were close behind. As she dropped to the lowered lift, Clarke's people were already more than half way to their destination. She snatched up her dagger, took a deep breath and threw it directly at them. It whizzed just above their heads and embedded itself in the side of the arch.

Unsurprisingly this got their attention and they whirled in her direction, the too bright lights nearly blinding her. Those with guns trained their sights on her but she was assuming they wouldn't shoot. At least not yet.

"Lexa?" said Clarke, her voice echoing along the ancient, yet well maintained walls. "What are you doing here?"

She jumped to the concrete floor, air flowing fast and furiously through her nostrils. Having completed an eight hour journey in only two and a half, she was exhausted beyond belief and wanted nothing more than to collapse. But she wasn't about to show her weakness, so instead she held herself tall and ambled towards them. Partly it was meant to give her an unconcerned air. Partly it was because she had no air to spare for speech.

"You know," she said when she felt she could manage it. It only came off as slightly hitched. "You know how to prevent this future, don't you?"

Clarke couldn't meet her gaze and that was all the answer needed. "How-"

"I realized you gave up too easily. You had plenty of oxygen left. Enough time to get to Polis and back. You could have sent Raven on ahead. The Clarke I know would have at least _asked_ if the records were real."

"Lexa..."

"But you didn't. You simply made sure to leave as soon as possible. Not because you didn't see the point in postponing our farewell, but rather because you didn't want to give me the opportunity to question you further."

"Hold it!" said Kane, assault rifle aimed at Lexa's chest. The remaining soldiers did the same to Anya, Gustus and Lincoln.

By now Lexa was within ten feet of them, and here she stood her ground, inwardly fuming. The fact that Clarke wouldn't even look her in the eye made her even angrier.

"Look at me!" she ordered. Clarke's eyes snapped up like a whip. "Did you enjoy manipulating me? Using my emotions against me?"

"Of course not," Clarke said in a small voice. Lexa almost believed her. "I didn't have a choice."

"Neither do I," she responded coldly. "I can't let you go back now, Clarke."

"I wouldn't be threatening her if I were you," said Kane, equally dangerous. "One twitch of my finger and I'll drop you."

"And I will drop you right after," said Anya waspishly. "You know this to be true. Just think back to your other men. Hard to believe they were your best warriors."

Kane's hand clenched around the grip of his weapon. "How dare you mock them. I will-"

"Shut up!" yelled Raven. Her voice rang for several seconds. Lexa glared in her direction instead. "Boo hoo for you, Lexa. So Clarke played you? So fucking what? You're being an unreasonable idiot. This is the fate of the world we're talking about!"

"Very well then, bird girl," said Anya, "you will be the first to die. I will enjoy taking my time as I disembowel you."

"No one's disemboweling anyone." Like a moron, Clarke stepped in front of Kane's gun, within easy strangling reach. "Look, I know it can't be easy to willingly allow yourself and your people to be erased out of existence, but you _have_ to Lexa." Lexa noticed she was on the verge of tears again. This time she felt nothing, or _pretended_ not to. "This future is _bad_ , but the one headed your way is even _worse_."

"Explain," she barked.

So Clarke did and Lexa tried not to laugh at such absurdities. A woman that was not a woman but lived inside of a machine and caused the nuclear holocaust by interacting with other machines. A giant rock from space that would kill everything in just over thirty years. These were the best lies she could come up with?

"She has clearly lost her mind," said Anya afterwards. "It is well that you are rid of such a feeble minded weakling, Lexa. Let us end this now."

Lexa ignored her friend and for whatever reason tried to dispel her disbelief, if only for a moment. "And you believe this...machine?"

"She had no reason to lie."

"It's a machine, it can't be trusted."

"She could've killed us all in the mountain, but she didn't. Why do that if she wasn't being sincere?"

" _You_ could still be lying."

"I'm not. I swear I'm not." Now she _was_ crying and Lexa was finding it difficult to remain objective. Damn her feelings! "You can keep us here, let us run out of oxygen until we die...but it won't change anything. The planet will still be doomed. Everyone will die, Lexa. Not just your people, but the survivors the world over. Every living thing too. Probably only freaking tardigrades would survive!"

_Tardi-grades?_

"You've always done what was right for your people, Lexa. Not what was _easy_. Now I'm asking you to make another hard choice, impossible really. But I know you'll make the right one...one final time."

Lexa stared at Clarke as she thought on all she had said, focused on her features and thereby tuned out all of the bickering going on around her. It was then that she had an epiphany. All this time she had thought she understood her vision. But she had been wrong. Yes, Clarke did free her people from the mountain, but that was only a literal interpretation. The only one she would have been able to understand at the time. It went far beyond that. An all powerful Clarke was now obviously supposed to represent this woman machine. The inexplicably dead mountain men represented the impending calamity. Re-writing the past would free her people from their cages and their never ending fight for survival.

The noisy world came crashing back around her and she raised a hand for silence.

"Let's go," she said to her people, still maintaining Clarke's gaze. The reflection from the clear lens seemed to magnify the blues. Or perhaps it was the tears.

"You told me you had control over your head!" yelled Anya. "I knew you were being less than truthful!"

Lexa turned on her. "I have never thought more clearly in my life. Hold your tongue from here on out or I will be forced to remove it."

She had never threatened physical violence at her mentor before. As such, Anya was stunned dumb for the time being.

She felt a hand on her arm. "Come with me."

"What?!" exclaimed several voices at once.

Slowly, Lexa turned to face a desperate woman. The sight was breaking her heart all over again. It was her turn to avoid eye contact. "Clarke-"

"This woman we have to stop, she won't be born for some years yet and she won't be a threat for many more after. Until we...dissuade her to not build the machine, your future will remain intact. You'll continue to exist. Be with me until then."

The amount of restraint it took to keep down her emotion and want was considerable. Here was the Clarke she knew and loved, the one who didn't give up without a fight.

She took Clarke's gloved hands in her own. "I would like nothing more, Clarke," she said, an unavoidable tremble in her voice, "but I can't abandon my people. I can't leave them leaderless. That would mean endless war."

"You don't know that," Clarke choked out, the tears freely flowing.

"But I _do_ , Clarke." Lexa drew her into another embrace, one that was if possible, more fierce than the last. "We must part ways now."

Clarke sobbed for some time, an awkward energy emitting from everyone else witnessing her complete lack of control. Lexa had never held someone for so long in her life. The entire situation was equally heartbreaking and cathartic, all at once.

Afterwards, Lexa took her hand and walked her the rest of the way to the threshold. They stood there, staring at one another, trying to memorize the others face so that they'd never forget as long as they lived.

Clarke glanced in Monty's direction and nodded. Monty placed his hand to the control console and the portal hummed into life. She glanced towards the faintly shimmering material and just stared at it.

"Clarke, it's time," said Kane.

Clarke muttered, 'screw it,' and then abruptly pulled Lexa through the threshold with her.

"Clarke!"

Back in 2015, Clarke wrenched off her helmet and let it fall and roll off the dais with a crack. Without sparing a glance at the room full of people, Clarke's mother included, she yanked Lexa towards her, crushing their lips together. The intensity and urgency was reminiscent of their first kiss, less than 48 hours ago. Lexa allowed herself this final moment of pure bliss and sunk into the kiss wholeheartedly. It ended on a sensual, achingly bittersweet note. With Lexa's senses all muddled, they shared one last tear streaked look, and then Clarke's face hardened and she shoved her back over to the other side.

_Her_ side. With _her_ people. It had been a long and confusing journey to find her way back to them, but she finally had, and she would give them the best possible future for as long as the past allowed. And every quiet, private moment of this new and glorious age would be spent in contemplation of a certain golden haired woman and her lovely blue eyes.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I took forever to finish this one, I thought you guys deserved a happy-ish ending. I tried really really really hard to get them together but they either acted ooc or it was totally contrived, so I had to go with this 'official' ending. However, I'm still going to outline my alternate contrived endings where they end up together because the portal won't work.
> 
> 1) Exhausted, Lexa's hand slips on the rope and she falls twenty feet down the elevator shaft. They are forced to rush her to the other side for treatment, her people coming with. Later, when she's better, she tries to cross back over, but the portal won't work. They can't figure out why, but for some mysterious reason she's trapped in 2015. She then spends years with Clarke, integrating fully into their society, and then one day Clarke comes home and Lexa is gone, and she just knows.
> 
> 2) Clarke's the last one to cross over, but when she tries to, the portal won't work. No one can come back for her either. She's just inexplicably stuck. She spends her last hours with Lexa, cuddling, talking, whatever. And then when the oxygen supply is nearly depleted, she takes off her helmet to kiss Lexa goodbye. But when she does so her present suddenly changes. Lexa, the forest, it's all gone, replaced instead with a futuristic landscape. She's basically in the midst of a bunch of people, all of whom are looking at her funnily. It's clear she doesn't belong, so the cops are called...and she comes face to face with an alternate Lexa.
> 
> 2b) Same as the previous one, except since the likelihood that all of Lexa's ancestors being the same is extremely low, if not straight up impossible, there is no alternate Lexa...yet. Alie somehow transferred Lexa's entire genome to an external hard drive, not something biological that would disappear, and then Clarke goes to some facility where she makes a clone version of Lexa...yeah, this one got really weird. :p
> 
> Anyway, that's all I've got for ya. Thanks for coming along on this rollercoaster with me. Until we meet again. :)


End file.
